Article
The Vatican has denied that Pope Benedict XVI intended any offence to the Muslim religion, after a speech touching on the concept of holy war.
Speaking in Germany, the Pope quoted a 14th Century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things.
I didn't mean to insult you , I just wanted to point out that your religion is the epitomb of evil.
quote from speach
The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.
What you have is a long , reasoned debate that violence to forward religious ends is a bad thing (I agree), and repeatedly mentioning Muslims as doing precisely that.
Well....
Yup. Call a spade a spade. How many places around the world do muslims inflict violence upon non-muslims ? Lots.
The black cat complains it is colored black. This is the cats fault , not the observers.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Ok , I stole this ... but I like it !
Stolen from :
Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary.
Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. You have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression!
People of the United States, why is everyone yelling at you??? Whatever happened to ... you know, everything? Why is the news dominated by nutballs saying that the Ten Commandments have to be tattooed inside the eyelids of every American, or that Allah has told them to kill Americans in order to rid the world of Satan, or that Yahweh has instructed them to go live wherever they feel like, or that Shiva thinks bombing mosques is a great idea? Sister Immaculate Dagger of Peace notes for the record that we mean no disrespect to Jews, Muslims, Christians or Hindus. Referred back to the committee of the whole for further discussion.
We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Unexalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes.
Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues.
We are Unitarian Jihad. We will appear in public places and require people to shake hands with each other. (Sister Hand Grenade of Love suggested that we institute a terror regime of mandatory hugging, but her motion was not formally introduced because of lack of a quorum.) We will require all lobbyists, spokesmen and campaign managers to dress like trout in public. Televangelists will be forced to take jobs as Xerox repair specialists. Demagogues of all stripes will be required to read Proust out loud in prisons.
We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough." We have heard from enough sincere people to last a lifetime already. Just because you believe it's true doesn't make it true. Just because your motives are pure doesn't mean you are not doing harm. Get a dog, or comfort someone in a nursing home, or just feed the birds in the park. Play basketball. Lighten up. The world is not out to get you, except in the sense that the world is out to get everyone.
Brother Gatling Gun of Patience notes that he's pretty sure the world is out to get him because everyone laughs when he says he is a Unitarian. There were murmurs of assent around the room, and someone suggested that we buy some Congress members and really stick it to the Baptists. But this was deemed against Revolutionary Principles, and Brother Gatling Gun of Patience was remanded to the Sunday Flowers and Banners committee.
People of the United States! We are Unitarian Jihad! We can strike without warning. Pockets of reasonableness and harmony will appear as if from nowhere! Nice people will run the government again! There will be coffee and cookies in the Gandhi Room after the revolution.
Startling new underground group spreads lack of panic! Citizens declare themselves "relatively unafraid" of threats of undeclared rationality. People can still go to France, terrorist leader says.
Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary.
Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. You have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression!
People of the United States, why is everyone yelling at you??? Whatever happened to ... you know, everything? Why is the news dominated by nutballs saying that the Ten Commandments have to be tattooed inside the eyelids of every American, or that Allah has told them to kill Americans in order to rid the world of Satan, or that Yahweh has instructed them to go live wherever they feel like, or that Shiva thinks bombing mosques is a great idea? Sister Immaculate Dagger of Peace notes for the record that we mean no disrespect to Jews, Muslims, Christians or Hindus. Referred back to the committee of the whole for further discussion.
We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Unexalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes.
Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues.
We are Unitarian Jihad. We will appear in public places and require people to shake hands with each other. (Sister Hand Grenade of Love suggested that we institute a terror regime of mandatory hugging, but her motion was not formally introduced because of lack of a quorum.) We will require all lobbyists, spokesmen and campaign managers to dress like trout in public. Televangelists will be forced to take jobs as Xerox repair specialists. Demagogues of all stripes will be required to read Proust out loud in prisons.
We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough." We have heard from enough sincere people to last a lifetime already. Just because you believe it's true doesn't make it true. Just because your motives are pure doesn't mean you are not doing harm. Get a dog, or comfort someone in a nursing home, or just feed the birds in the park. Play basketball. Lighten up. The world is not out to get you, except in the sense that the world is out to get everyone.
Brother Gatling Gun of Patience notes that he's pretty sure the world is out to get him because everyone laughs when he says he is a Unitarian. There were murmurs of assent around the room, and someone suggested that we buy some Congress members and really stick it to the Baptists. But this was deemed against Revolutionary Principles, and Brother Gatling Gun of Patience was remanded to the Sunday Flowers and Banners committee.
People of the United States! We are Unitarian Jihad! We can strike without warning. Pockets of reasonableness and harmony will appear as if from nowhere! Nice people will run the government again! There will be coffee and cookies in the Gandhi Room after the revolution.
Startling new underground group spreads lack of panic! Citizens declare themselves "relatively unafraid" of threats of undeclared rationality. People can still go to France, terrorist leader says.
Layton again calls for Afghan pullout, in wake of deaths
Article
"This is the wrong mission for Canada," Layton said.
...
"It's not balanced. It doesn’t represent the equilibrium between humanitarian aid, reconstruction and comprehensive peace process that Canadians would want to see."
I noticed self defence is not one of the points of equilibrium being balanced out here. Those guys are threatening canadians. And they are producing opium which gets turned into heroin and sold on canadian streets....
Layton, who made the same call for withdrawal on Aug. 31, also accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government of toeing the line set by U.S. President George W. Bush and his team in Washington, D.C.
"We need a made-in-Canada foreign policy, not one that's ideologically imported that follows along the pathway that has been set by the Bush administration," Layton said.
Yeah ! Just because when bush gets kicked in the balls and decides the solution is to pound on the ones responsible for kicking him , thats no excuse. We're supposed to smile when get kicked similarily and do things differently.
Not quite sure how , differently ...but different. Somehow. Canadian type different, not american type kick 'em right back. You know...different ....
Yeah , right.
"This is the wrong mission for Canada," Layton said.
...
"It's not balanced. It doesn’t represent the equilibrium between humanitarian aid, reconstruction and comprehensive peace process that Canadians would want to see."
I noticed self defence is not one of the points of equilibrium being balanced out here. Those guys are threatening canadians. And they are producing opium which gets turned into heroin and sold on canadian streets....
Layton, who made the same call for withdrawal on Aug. 31, also accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government of toeing the line set by U.S. President George W. Bush and his team in Washington, D.C.
"We need a made-in-Canada foreign policy, not one that's ideologically imported that follows along the pathway that has been set by the Bush administration," Layton said.
Yeah ! Just because when bush gets kicked in the balls and decides the solution is to pound on the ones responsible for kicking him , thats no excuse. We're supposed to smile when get kicked similarily and do things differently.
Not quite sure how , differently ...but different. Somehow. Canadian type different, not american type kick 'em right back. You know...different ....
Yeah , right.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Montreal's homeless to be fined for sleeping in squares
The funny people and their funny ways.
Montreal's homeless will have to find new places to sleep or face hefty fines, as the city's downtown borough of Ville Marie bans overnight stays in public squares.
The ban takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, making it an offence to sleep in 15 downtown squares between midnight and 6 a.m.
The penalty is a fine of $141 for a first offence. If offenders can't pay the fine, they face jail time.
Ummm...I'm cold...it's -30 out here. I think I'll sleep down town where the cops can see me. Do I have $141 Cdn ? Ummm..no , I'm homeless.
Off to the NICE WARM jail for you !
ahhh...thats so much better.
Oh , and if I ever get a job, and they ask me why I was in jail for 3 months ? Vagrancy. I slept on the street where I wasn't supposed to and they arrested me ... unfortunately 3months is the maximum they keep you in jail so they booted me out of their nice warm jail with the free food after that.
yeah !
I can see how this law is going to work out REAL good.
Montreal's homeless will have to find new places to sleep or face hefty fines, as the city's downtown borough of Ville Marie bans overnight stays in public squares.
The ban takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, making it an offence to sleep in 15 downtown squares between midnight and 6 a.m.
The penalty is a fine of $141 for a first offence. If offenders can't pay the fine, they face jail time.
Ummm...I'm cold...it's -30 out here. I think I'll sleep down town where the cops can see me. Do I have $141 Cdn ? Ummm..no , I'm homeless.
Off to the NICE WARM jail for you !
ahhh...thats so much better.
Oh , and if I ever get a job, and they ask me why I was in jail for 3 months ? Vagrancy. I slept on the street where I wasn't supposed to and they arrested me ... unfortunately 3months is the maximum they keep you in jail so they booted me out of their nice warm jail with the free food after that.
yeah !
I can see how this law is going to work out REAL good.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Disability Application
I'm applying for disability.
Sort of.
I'm working the system. You see, you have to employ certain tactics or they'll turn you down. You have to ...
sometimes I wonder.
When did the prime goal of my life stop being "getting that pretty girl into bed"
When did the prime goal of my life stop being "get an ok job, maybe not a decent job , but an ok job..."
When did the prime goal of my life stop being "wheres the beer, bub , and dont' stand in my way to the bathroom you only rent this stuff you dont' buy it"
When did it start , that the primary thought every morning when I woke up was "You have 10 second of physical activity before your lungs fail you , how will you spend it ?"
When did it start "I have to go to the can ...you have ten seconds...are you ready yet ? "
When did it start "Yes, I can make it across the street. If I walk really really slow. If I deliberately breath heavy because I won't actually feel like breathing heavy until 10 or twenty seconds later, but by then it's too late if it gets that far start looking for a convenient place to fall down on because you messsed it all up..."
I have to seriously wonder.
Am I really plotting how to work the system ?
Or is the system working me ?
Sort of.
I'm working the system. You see, you have to employ certain tactics or they'll turn you down. You have to ...
sometimes I wonder.
When did the prime goal of my life stop being "getting that pretty girl into bed"
When did the prime goal of my life stop being "get an ok job, maybe not a decent job , but an ok job..."
When did the prime goal of my life stop being "wheres the beer, bub , and dont' stand in my way to the bathroom you only rent this stuff you dont' buy it"
When did it start , that the primary thought every morning when I woke up was "You have 10 second of physical activity before your lungs fail you , how will you spend it ?"
When did it start "I have to go to the can ...you have ten seconds...are you ready yet ? "
When did it start "Yes, I can make it across the street. If I walk really really slow. If I deliberately breath heavy because I won't actually feel like breathing heavy until 10 or twenty seconds later, but by then it's too late if it gets that far start looking for a convenient place to fall down on because you messsed it all up..."
I have to seriously wonder.
Am I really plotting how to work the system ?
Or is the system working me ?
Monday, August 28, 2006
Vixen's Delight
I play world of warcraft, an online game where you
share the game world with as many as 2000 other players.
I was running up a new charactar, so I stopped in goldshire , a city , to look for a guild to help my new charactar.
Some girl, Sharalanda I think , was with a guild called Vixen's Delight , and she was talking to another female player, trying to recruit her for the guild.
Apparently the point of the Vixen's Delight is to fast talk male players into buying them a drink (an in game drink) , and negotiate for an hour of their time where on they will do anything. She didn't actually say Cybersex, she said Dancing Girl , but I'd seen these girls in action around and about the place.
would somone one please ! Tell me ! Why anyone would pay $20 / month , plus maintain their own computer, so that they can go out and PRETEND to be a prostitute, in exchagne for game money , money they can't even spend in the real world ????
Next thing you know , we will have virtual cops chasing these virtual prostitutes, because, really , this is a game meant for 10 year old little billy , and Little billy might have a high level charactar with more money than he knows what to do with and his parents are going to get quite upset if they walk by the computer and see him having cybersex with some stranger ....
sheesh !
The world we live in.
And the virtual one we play in !
share the game world with as many as 2000 other players.
I was running up a new charactar, so I stopped in goldshire , a city , to look for a guild to help my new charactar.
Some girl, Sharalanda I think , was with a guild called Vixen's Delight , and she was talking to another female player, trying to recruit her for the guild.
Apparently the point of the Vixen's Delight is to fast talk male players into buying them a drink (an in game drink) , and negotiate for an hour of their time where on they will do anything. She didn't actually say Cybersex, she said Dancing Girl , but I'd seen these girls in action around and about the place.
would somone one please ! Tell me ! Why anyone would pay $20 / month , plus maintain their own computer, so that they can go out and PRETEND to be a prostitute, in exchagne for game money , money they can't even spend in the real world ????
Next thing you know , we will have virtual cops chasing these virtual prostitutes, because, really , this is a game meant for 10 year old little billy , and Little billy might have a high level charactar with more money than he knows what to do with and his parents are going to get quite upset if they walk by the computer and see him having cybersex with some stranger ....
sheesh !
The world we live in.
And the virtual one we play in !
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
This week in The Middle East
Amnesty International is accusing Israel of war crimes. They state that Israel deliberately targetted civilians in it's 30 day war against the Hezbolla in lebanon.
Ok , but the Hezbolla were deliberately targetting Israel , tossing rockets into israeli civilian area's.
Why arn't they accusing the Hezbolla of war crimes ?
Some canadian ministers of parliment visited the scene in Lebanon , and the invite of Hezbolla , and agreed there had been some kind of war crime commited here. They did not visit israel or survey the damage commited by the Hezbolla on israel.
Lets be blunt here.
You're dealing with an organization that , morally , makes the Klu Klux Klan look like saints. They don't hesistate to lie, and they want Israeli's dead. Their holy book calls all Israeli's dogs and pigs, and their Hadiths demand that every Israeli be killed.
And they teach this to their own children since before the kids learn to walk.
Yet people continue to treat them as if they were decent upstanding citizens.
Do you treat members of the Klu Klux Klan as decent people ? do you invite them to your dinner table so you can talk about the best way to kill and humiliat blacks ?
You most certainly do not.
yet , some how , yes we do.
This is our fault. Their behavior is totally unacceptable, yet people insist on overlooking it and treating it as if it was.
don't blame them. Blame us.
Ok , but the Hezbolla were deliberately targetting Israel , tossing rockets into israeli civilian area's.
Why arn't they accusing the Hezbolla of war crimes ?
Some canadian ministers of parliment visited the scene in Lebanon , and the invite of Hezbolla , and agreed there had been some kind of war crime commited here. They did not visit israel or survey the damage commited by the Hezbolla on israel.
Lets be blunt here.
You're dealing with an organization that , morally , makes the Klu Klux Klan look like saints. They don't hesistate to lie, and they want Israeli's dead. Their holy book calls all Israeli's dogs and pigs, and their Hadiths demand that every Israeli be killed.
And they teach this to their own children since before the kids learn to walk.
Yet people continue to treat them as if they were decent upstanding citizens.
Do you treat members of the Klu Klux Klan as decent people ? do you invite them to your dinner table so you can talk about the best way to kill and humiliat blacks ?
You most certainly do not.
yet , some how , yes we do.
This is our fault. Their behavior is totally unacceptable, yet people insist on overlooking it and treating it as if it was.
don't blame them. Blame us.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Apply for Disablity
Aug 4th , was my last day of work.
Work wants me to apply for disablity because my attenence sucks.
My attendence sucks, by the way , because I'm exhausted all the
time , and I really can't breath properly.
Apply for a doctor's appt on monday. OOps doc is on holiday , finally get ahold of him (his secretary actually) and get an apt for Aug 18
18th rolls around , My wife makes me almost late, I just arrive in time for the appointment. So there's no waiting in the waiting room I go right in and the docotr shows up right away.
No, thats not quite true.
What really happened is , I got off the elevator , on a wheel chair pushed by my wife , because it was a really long walk from the bus stop, checked in with the desk , and , gasping for breath as is my want if I've walked more than 25 meters, I was denied my usual 10 min of rest before seeing anyone.
The nurse who asked me the usual questions hustled out quick and almost dragged the doctor in so he could see me gasping away as if I'd just run a marethon. The doctor mentioned several times that if climing a flight or two of stairs did this to me I might not survive the operation so he was cancelling it (I never did get to tell him I never actually climbed any stairs to get into this condition) , and he sent me off to see a specialist.
And he kept the insurance forms. The ones I'm using to apply for short term disability ? HE KEPT THEM ! ARRRRg ! Rent is coming up soon and I ahvn't worked since the 4th of the month and now I have no source of income !
PHone around and find out there's some kind of Public Works or unemployment or whatever for a situation like this ,and so Now I'm gathering paperwork for an appointment with them on fri aug 25.
Call the doctor 20 times on monday , left 2 messages. No answer. Tues I get a clal for my appointment with the breathing specialist.
Sept 5.
Ahhh....this is taking forever !
I dread to think what happens if I get turned down. No savings , havn't worked in a month , credit card near maxed out ...
Work wants me to apply for disablity because my attenence sucks.
My attendence sucks, by the way , because I'm exhausted all the
time , and I really can't breath properly.
Apply for a doctor's appt on monday. OOps doc is on holiday , finally get ahold of him (his secretary actually) and get an apt for Aug 18
18th rolls around , My wife makes me almost late, I just arrive in time for the appointment. So there's no waiting in the waiting room I go right in and the docotr shows up right away.
No, thats not quite true.
What really happened is , I got off the elevator , on a wheel chair pushed by my wife , because it was a really long walk from the bus stop, checked in with the desk , and , gasping for breath as is my want if I've walked more than 25 meters, I was denied my usual 10 min of rest before seeing anyone.
The nurse who asked me the usual questions hustled out quick and almost dragged the doctor in so he could see me gasping away as if I'd just run a marethon. The doctor mentioned several times that if climing a flight or two of stairs did this to me I might not survive the operation so he was cancelling it (I never did get to tell him I never actually climbed any stairs to get into this condition) , and he sent me off to see a specialist.
And he kept the insurance forms. The ones I'm using to apply for short term disability ? HE KEPT THEM ! ARRRRg ! Rent is coming up soon and I ahvn't worked since the 4th of the month and now I have no source of income !
PHone around and find out there's some kind of Public Works or unemployment or whatever for a situation like this ,and so Now I'm gathering paperwork for an appointment with them on fri aug 25.
Call the doctor 20 times on monday , left 2 messages. No answer. Tues I get a clal for my appointment with the breathing specialist.
Sept 5.
Ahhh....this is taking forever !
I dread to think what happens if I get turned down. No savings , havn't worked in a month , credit card near maxed out ...
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Muslim World Demands Lebanon Ceasefire
Article
Muslim world demands Lebanon ceasefire, peace role
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - Leaders from the Muslim world, spearheaded by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Thursday sought an immediate end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon and inclusion of Muslim forces in any future peacekeeping operation
>>But Israil isn't attacking Lebanon , they're attacking your fair haired Hezbolla (party of the muslim god) who's trying to over throw democratic Lebanon.
We must show preparedness to contribute forces for peacekeeping operations under the
United Nations banner," Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia's prime minister and host of the conference, said in remarks prepared for delivery behind closed doors. "Malaysia is ready to do that."
>>You foisted those terrorists off on the Lebanon in the first place, now you want to step in and protect them. I really can't describe what a disaster this would be to Lebanon.
We don't want a clash of civilizations, but all over the Muslim world a very negative feeling is arising in the streets," Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri told reporters before the start of the meeting in Malaysia's administrative capital.
>> The Muslim world is a world of dictators. The only feelings they have are the ones you dictate to them via highly biased news articles (like this one), and the frequent shooting of newspaper reporters who don't toe the line. It's not MY fault you pointed YOUR sheep in the wrong direction and got them all killed. Its YOUR fault , not to be too picky about it.
Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, arrived just before the opening session and declined any comment
>> aha. Cheif among the peace keepers is the main muslim warmonger himself.
On Wednesday, Iranian state television quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in matters of state, as vowing unyielding support for Lebanese resistance against Israel.
>> The only "lebanese resistance" in Lebanon are the terrorists you planted that are currently trying to overthrow the democracy of Lebanon. And currently getting their behinds kicked by Israel. The standing lebanese government actually has no control over that area since the Hezbolla kicked them out , and is basically telling Israel to "go for it" . I believe the result of their last "emergancy meeting" was to tell us that no one should attack their soilders (which are no where near the fighting) or they will defend themselves.
Who writes this drivel ?
--PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters)
Oh , the article is from a Muslim country.
Figures.
You want the muslims to stop hating us ? Bomb all the newspapers and radio stations out of existance.
Muslim world demands Lebanon ceasefire, peace role
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - Leaders from the Muslim world, spearheaded by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Thursday sought an immediate end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon and inclusion of Muslim forces in any future peacekeeping operation
>>But Israil isn't attacking Lebanon , they're attacking your fair haired Hezbolla (party of the muslim god) who's trying to over throw democratic Lebanon.
We must show preparedness to contribute forces for peacekeeping operations under the
United Nations banner," Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia's prime minister and host of the conference, said in remarks prepared for delivery behind closed doors. "Malaysia is ready to do that."
>>You foisted those terrorists off on the Lebanon in the first place, now you want to step in and protect them. I really can't describe what a disaster this would be to Lebanon.
We don't want a clash of civilizations, but all over the Muslim world a very negative feeling is arising in the streets," Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri told reporters before the start of the meeting in Malaysia's administrative capital.
>> The Muslim world is a world of dictators. The only feelings they have are the ones you dictate to them via highly biased news articles (like this one), and the frequent shooting of newspaper reporters who don't toe the line. It's not MY fault you pointed YOUR sheep in the wrong direction and got them all killed. Its YOUR fault , not to be too picky about it.
Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, arrived just before the opening session and declined any comment
>> aha. Cheif among the peace keepers is the main muslim warmonger himself.
On Wednesday, Iranian state television quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in matters of state, as vowing unyielding support for Lebanese resistance against Israel.
>> The only "lebanese resistance" in Lebanon are the terrorists you planted that are currently trying to overthrow the democracy of Lebanon. And currently getting their behinds kicked by Israel. The standing lebanese government actually has no control over that area since the Hezbolla kicked them out , and is basically telling Israel to "go for it" . I believe the result of their last "emergancy meeting" was to tell us that no one should attack their soilders (which are no where near the fighting) or they will defend themselves.
Who writes this drivel ?
--PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters)
Oh , the article is from a Muslim country.
Figures.
You want the muslims to stop hating us ? Bomb all the newspapers and radio stations out of existance.
Good news for a change
My sisters's been getting into genology , and tracked down a cousing we're going to see this week.
Cousin had a Pulmonary Embolism , just like me.
In 2000. (6 years ago)
And she's emailing me from a government of canada email address. Which means from work. Which means she has a job. Which means she's well enough to have a job.
Oh these tiny things we cling to.
Cousin had a Pulmonary Embolism , just like me.
In 2000. (6 years ago)
And she's emailing me from a government of canada email address. Which means from work. Which means she has a job. Which means she's well enough to have a job.
Oh these tiny things we cling to.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Slow Summer Afternoon
A slow summer afternoon , nothing much to blog.
Israel invades Lebenon after those Hezbolla terrorists kidnap 2 soldiers. Lebenon basically lets it happen. Ho hum. The Arab nations demand Israeli stop it , but make no such demands about hezbolla stopping attacks on israeli. Pretty easy to see who's arab and who isn't just by one brand of nonsense they sprout.
Ottawa child pornographer gets caught. new twist. He got the little girls to photo themselves and email the pics back to him. Never actually entered their rooms or was alone with them. Hmmm... not sure how you would charge him with that , but he made threats so he's getting some jail time somewhere.
I can walk across the street , and then I have to rest. Thats as good as my health will ever get. Not too happy with that.
Everytime I look up Pulminary embolism on the internet , nothing but bad news. Turned up a new wonder drug that can detect when people with shortness of breath (the primary symptom of PE) will be in the 90% who die off in the first year or the 10% who make it a little longer. Hadn't known 90% die off in the first year. *depressed sigh ...count months since pe attack... now I'm really depressed !*
Talked to my nurse who visits twice a week. She said most of the people she ever treated with PE were 80 years old and she's been in the business 20 years. I'm 40ish so those stats don't really apply to me, I'm not your average pe sufferer.
*sigh*
I may suddenly and with out warning die sometime in the next two months (thats whats left of my year) but i still have to go to work now. This really sucks.
Israel invades Lebenon after those Hezbolla terrorists kidnap 2 soldiers. Lebenon basically lets it happen. Ho hum. The Arab nations demand Israeli stop it , but make no such demands about hezbolla stopping attacks on israeli. Pretty easy to see who's arab and who isn't just by one brand of nonsense they sprout.
Ottawa child pornographer gets caught. new twist. He got the little girls to photo themselves and email the pics back to him. Never actually entered their rooms or was alone with them. Hmmm... not sure how you would charge him with that , but he made threats so he's getting some jail time somewhere.
I can walk across the street , and then I have to rest. Thats as good as my health will ever get. Not too happy with that.
Everytime I look up Pulminary embolism on the internet , nothing but bad news. Turned up a new wonder drug that can detect when people with shortness of breath (the primary symptom of PE) will be in the 90% who die off in the first year or the 10% who make it a little longer. Hadn't known 90% die off in the first year. *depressed sigh ...count months since pe attack... now I'm really depressed !*
Talked to my nurse who visits twice a week. She said most of the people she ever treated with PE were 80 years old and she's been in the business 20 years. I'm 40ish so those stats don't really apply to me, I'm not your average pe sufferer.
*sigh*
I may suddenly and with out warning die sometime in the next two months (thats whats left of my year) but i still have to go to work now. This really sucks.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Coming soon -- mind-reading computers
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/06/26/mind.reading.pcs.reut/index.html
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A raised eyebrow, quizzical look or a nod of the head are just a few of the facial expressions computers could soon be using to read people's minds.
An "emotionally aware" computer being developed by British and American scientists will be able to read an individual's thoughts by analyzing a combination of facial movements that represent underlying feelings.
Not quite mind reading , but still , pretty good. Can you control a mouse with that ?
He and his collaborators believe the mind-reading computer's applications could range from improving people's driving skills to helping companies tailor advertising to people's moods.
Stop !!!
You're going to read my mind and determine how best to SPAM me ??? This verges on mind control you understand. Subliminal Advertising has been illegal for a long time, but it seems we're now going for a new, high tech version of this.
"Our research could enable Web sites to tailor advertising or products to your mood," Robinson told Reuters. "For example, a Webcam linked with our software could process your image, encode the correct emotional state and transmit information to a Web site."
You're going to read my mind , and then tell any random business man or advertiser what I'm feeling, people notorious for breaking rules, and laws, in the persuite of profit ? This is what you plan on doing with your brand spanking new mind reading device ?
Hey ! The guy on channel four is thirsty ! Break out the beer ads ! Channel Six is hungry, break out the McDonalds High Transfat heart attack special ads, those things pay us the most ! Channel 7 the soon to be illegal viagra ads, we gotta move that stuff out before they discover it causes heart attacks and ban it ...
(edit)
Oh yeah , bandwidth issue !
you're going to take bandwidth from me , that I pay MY ISP for , so that you can read my mind and determine how best to spam me to death. You're going to make ME pay for your spam , in other words, AND you're going to make ME pay for YOUR breach of privacy.
Because Breach of Privacy is exactly what this is. No one in their right mind is going to let you read their mind for the soul purpose of spamming them more efficiently. The only way this works is if you trick them into agreeing to it or simply don't tell them you're doing it. No one agree's to get junk mail now adays, and certainly no one will agree to PAY to get more efficiently targetted with junk mail.
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A raised eyebrow, quizzical look or a nod of the head are just a few of the facial expressions computers could soon be using to read people's minds.
An "emotionally aware" computer being developed by British and American scientists will be able to read an individual's thoughts by analyzing a combination of facial movements that represent underlying feelings.
Not quite mind reading , but still , pretty good. Can you control a mouse with that ?
He and his collaborators believe the mind-reading computer's applications could range from improving people's driving skills to helping companies tailor advertising to people's moods.
Stop !!!
You're going to read my mind and determine how best to SPAM me ??? This verges on mind control you understand. Subliminal Advertising has been illegal for a long time, but it seems we're now going for a new, high tech version of this.
"Our research could enable Web sites to tailor advertising or products to your mood," Robinson told Reuters. "For example, a Webcam linked with our software could process your image, encode the correct emotional state and transmit information to a Web site."
You're going to read my mind , and then tell any random business man or advertiser what I'm feeling, people notorious for breaking rules, and laws, in the persuite of profit ? This is what you plan on doing with your brand spanking new mind reading device ?
Hey ! The guy on channel four is thirsty ! Break out the beer ads ! Channel Six is hungry, break out the McDonalds High Transfat heart attack special ads, those things pay us the most ! Channel 7 the soon to be illegal viagra ads, we gotta move that stuff out before they discover it causes heart attacks and ban it ...
(edit)
Oh yeah , bandwidth issue !
you're going to take bandwidth from me , that I pay MY ISP for , so that you can read my mind and determine how best to spam me to death. You're going to make ME pay for your spam , in other words, AND you're going to make ME pay for YOUR breach of privacy.
Because Breach of Privacy is exactly what this is. No one in their right mind is going to let you read their mind for the soul purpose of spamming them more efficiently. The only way this works is if you trick them into agreeing to it or simply don't tell them you're doing it. No one agree's to get junk mail now adays, and certainly no one will agree to PAY to get more efficiently targetted with junk mail.
Guantanamo
Article
>>The court found that the trials — known as military commissions — for people
>>detained on suspicion of terrorist activity abroad do not conform to any act of Congress.
You know, I've always wondered about that. Those guys, these "enemey combatants" are out to tear down the US and destroy it. The us constitution is a document on how a group of people (known as us citizens) can live together. Since these people do not seek to partake of this agreement in the first place, indeed they seek to destroy it and all parties involved in it, why are they being treated as if they were members of the agreement in the first place ?
I mean , lets face it , the law of the land is for citizens of the land , not for forien soldiers intent on destroying / conquering the land and making up thier own completely different law of the land.
>>The court found that the trials — known as military commissions — for people
>>detained on suspicion of terrorist activity abroad do not conform to any act of Congress.
You know, I've always wondered about that. Those guys, these "enemey combatants" are out to tear down the US and destroy it. The us constitution is a document on how a group of people (known as us citizens) can live together. Since these people do not seek to partake of this agreement in the first place, indeed they seek to destroy it and all parties involved in it, why are they being treated as if they were members of the agreement in the first place ?
I mean , lets face it , the law of the land is for citizens of the land , not for forien soldiers intent on destroying / conquering the land and making up thier own completely different law of the land.
$750-million transit plan is on the rails
Article
>>Even a candidate who wants to unseat the mayor in this fall's municipal election now
>>admits that construction appears inevitable. Terry Kilrea had proposed delaying
>>council's final vote on the project, scheduled for July 12, until after the election.
Are you out of your mind ??? do you know what the commute is like from the outskirts of town to downtown ? And you wanna cancel the whole thing and start over ?
I'm definately voting against you next time !
>>Critics say they still don't know the project's true cost. They complain that it's going in
>>the wrong direction, because the city's real traffic problem exists on an east-west axis, >>not along the north-south route planned for the new rail line.
The true cost will be 2.4 times any honest estimate of course, I learned that in school.
It's only going in the wrong direction if you're heading down town. I'd be very happy to go to Billings Bridge instead of the Rideau Centre if there was a fast way there. I aint locked into a particular shopping center and neither, I suspect, is anyone else. Put a fast bus there from here and we'll go !
And the East-west axis is handled by the existing east-west transit way , which will eventually become light rail itself , though maybe not for 10 or 20 more years ...you already announced that many times.
There is a certain amount of push pull by business groups of course (faster transit to my area means more money for me ...time to get out the lobbiests) but cancelling the project is an outright act of corruption after all this money spent (those in charge of the Rideau Center would be very happy for that , I assume , since it means their customers are not siphoned off down the north/south axis of the city, you can bet they're spending money to try and cancel the project)
As for anyone drinking at the public trough , there is a very simple solution for that.
Jail.
>>Even a candidate who wants to unseat the mayor in this fall's municipal election now
>>admits that construction appears inevitable. Terry Kilrea had proposed delaying
>>council's final vote on the project, scheduled for July 12, until after the election.
Are you out of your mind ??? do you know what the commute is like from the outskirts of town to downtown ? And you wanna cancel the whole thing and start over ?
I'm definately voting against you next time !
>>Critics say they still don't know the project's true cost. They complain that it's going in
>>the wrong direction, because the city's real traffic problem exists on an east-west axis, >>not along the north-south route planned for the new rail line.
The true cost will be 2.4 times any honest estimate of course, I learned that in school.
It's only going in the wrong direction if you're heading down town. I'd be very happy to go to Billings Bridge instead of the Rideau Centre if there was a fast way there. I aint locked into a particular shopping center and neither, I suspect, is anyone else. Put a fast bus there from here and we'll go !
And the East-west axis is handled by the existing east-west transit way , which will eventually become light rail itself , though maybe not for 10 or 20 more years ...you already announced that many times.
There is a certain amount of push pull by business groups of course (faster transit to my area means more money for me ...time to get out the lobbiests) but cancelling the project is an outright act of corruption after all this money spent (those in charge of the Rideau Center would be very happy for that , I assume , since it means their customers are not siphoned off down the north/south axis of the city, you can bet they're spending money to try and cancel the project)
As for anyone drinking at the public trough , there is a very simple solution for that.
Jail.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Police make arrest in murder of street kid
He'll get off.
Article.
Ottawa police have laid charges in the stabbing death of a young street person earlier this week.
Ricky Roger Hankey, 35, was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree murder.
The charge is related to the death of Steven Beriault, 21, who was stabbed early Wednesday in a fight in the pedestrian underpass at the corner of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive.
Why ?
Well, officer ! I was drunk , so I stopped by this underpass at 3am to take a piss, and then these 20 bums came out and started yelling at me ! It was self defence ! I swear ! There was a whole pack of them !
Article.
Ottawa police have laid charges in the stabbing death of a young street person earlier this week.
Ricky Roger Hankey, 35, was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree murder.
The charge is related to the death of Steven Beriault, 21, who was stabbed early Wednesday in a fight in the pedestrian underpass at the corner of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive.
Why ?
Well, officer ! I was drunk , so I stopped by this underpass at 3am to take a piss, and then these 20 bums came out and started yelling at me ! It was self defence ! I swear ! There was a whole pack of them !
The Evilness of the Real Player
My brother wanted to d/l some songs to his PDA, but it needed some special software, a so Called real player.
Ok I download it from the internet , try it out. Wrong version. Need the special version that came with his pda.
Ok, uninstall, forget about it.
Every now and then on boot up, I get advertising. Buy this ! What a great deal !
It's not excessive ...but it's got the same kind of frame and color scheme as the real player. And there's no way to uninstall it. In other words, hostile software.
msconfig, find the culperate. Remove the check mark.
Nope, next reboot it gets put back ! Not allowed to uncheck that box !
Pencil and paper, write down the file name and location , hunt it down , erase it.
Nope ! Not allowed to erase it ! The file is in use !
Task manager, look through the processes, not the program names, the processes. Find one with the same name as the file. End task on it.
Then erase the file in quesiton.
she's gone.
Oh , and the windows fire wall sucks. Why ? Because I didn't get asked if I want this program to access the internet, it was given permission automatically to spam me.
now I gotta get a real fire wall on top of this nonsense.
(edit)
I checked the windows fire wall , the list of exceptions , programs that are permitted ? It's not on the list. but it was getting through anyways. Odd, internet explorer is not on the list either but it gets through ...
Can you say "You are no longer in control of the machine ? Bill Gates is running this ride so fasten your seat and have your credit card ready ?"
Definately need a new fire wall.
Ok I download it from the internet , try it out. Wrong version. Need the special version that came with his pda.
Ok, uninstall, forget about it.
Every now and then on boot up, I get advertising. Buy this ! What a great deal !
It's not excessive ...but it's got the same kind of frame and color scheme as the real player. And there's no way to uninstall it. In other words, hostile software.
msconfig, find the culperate. Remove the check mark.
Nope, next reboot it gets put back ! Not allowed to uncheck that box !
Pencil and paper, write down the file name and location , hunt it down , erase it.
Nope ! Not allowed to erase it ! The file is in use !
Task manager, look through the processes, not the program names, the processes. Find one with the same name as the file. End task on it.
Then erase the file in quesiton.
she's gone.
Oh , and the windows fire wall sucks. Why ? Because I didn't get asked if I want this program to access the internet, it was given permission automatically to spam me.
now I gotta get a real fire wall on top of this nonsense.
(edit)
I checked the windows fire wall , the list of exceptions , programs that are permitted ? It's not on the list. but it was getting through anyways. Odd, internet explorer is not on the list either but it gets through ...
Can you say "You are no longer in control of the machine ? Bill Gates is running this ride so fasten your seat and have your credit card ready ?"
Definately need a new fire wall.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The Microsoft Treadmill
Article
Microsoft releases eight critical software patches to repair vulnerabilities
NEW YORK (AP) - Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) released eight critical updates Tuesday to patch security holes in its Windows operating system, Internet Explorer browser, Windows Media Player and Office productivity software.
The critical patches - so called because they address problems deemed to pose the highest threat in Microsoft's security warning system - all are designed to prevent an attacker from taking control of another person's computer without that user's permission.
Hmmm...Security is Job One. How long ago was it bill gates said that ? 5 years ?
5 Years , and the Internet Explorer is full of holes. No, I take that back. It isn't full of holes , it has precisely ONE hole and one hole only , active - x components. A hole he patly refuses to close, and viciously defends with copy rights and legal action against anyone who dares infring on it.
Meanwhile I'm sitting her using firefox , and before that Opera , and havn't had a virus or paraiste in almost 3 years (or more) , while he's constantly patching and patching the internet explorer, but refusing to shut it's one and only hole because it's making him money.
One has to wonder how much money businesses over the years have spent on upgrades and anti-virus programs , and then cleaning up virus's and trojens those programs didn't catch , because he sings a good song and puts out a lot of really cool bafflegab that sounds impressive.
Meanwhile guys like me on the ground who know better, who spend our careers making this stuff work , get constantly overruled or told to be quiet by ignorant managers who'd rather read advertising pamphlets than talk to the mechanics who make things go.
*sigh*
It's a self inflicted pain these people are inflicting upon themselvs. They deserve it. I keep telling myself that.
Microsoft releases eight critical software patches to repair vulnerabilities
NEW YORK (AP) - Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) released eight critical updates Tuesday to patch security holes in its Windows operating system, Internet Explorer browser, Windows Media Player and Office productivity software.
The critical patches - so called because they address problems deemed to pose the highest threat in Microsoft's security warning system - all are designed to prevent an attacker from taking control of another person's computer without that user's permission.
Hmmm...Security is Job One. How long ago was it bill gates said that ? 5 years ?
5 Years , and the Internet Explorer is full of holes. No, I take that back. It isn't full of holes , it has precisely ONE hole and one hole only , active - x components. A hole he patly refuses to close, and viciously defends with copy rights and legal action against anyone who dares infring on it.
Meanwhile I'm sitting her using firefox , and before that Opera , and havn't had a virus or paraiste in almost 3 years (or more) , while he's constantly patching and patching the internet explorer, but refusing to shut it's one and only hole because it's making him money.
One has to wonder how much money businesses over the years have spent on upgrades and anti-virus programs , and then cleaning up virus's and trojens those programs didn't catch , because he sings a good song and puts out a lot of really cool bafflegab that sounds impressive.
Meanwhile guys like me on the ground who know better, who spend our careers making this stuff work , get constantly overruled or told to be quiet by ignorant managers who'd rather read advertising pamphlets than talk to the mechanics who make things go.
*sigh*
It's a self inflicted pain these people are inflicting upon themselvs. They deserve it. I keep telling myself that.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Fragman Needle
I'm drunk ! I won't remember this !
yes I will !
Ok, I'm supposed to take a fragman needle every day, because I had a pulmonary embolism, (blood clot in the lungs ) and they dont' want a repeat.
Normally I take it in the belly. Off to the side. I jab it in , I yell a bit , it doesn't really hurt but hey , yelling kills the pain why take the chance yell anyways ?
Well, I'm drunk , not supposed to feel the pain. Supposed to rotate sites, dont' use the belly all the time it gets used up full of bruises etc ...
Jab it (in the leg, not the belly) in forget to yell...
does it hurt ? Hell yes it hurts, definately more than I usually feel it. take a deep breath and start yelling... can't yell that loud I'm drunk that makes me tired.
Press the injector in , lets get this over with quick...
Oh boy do I yell now , and no I'm not covering my pain , I'm yelling becauise I'm *IN* pain ! ow that sob hurts !
finish it out and toss it in the sharps container.
Ummm... ok.
Do needles when you're sobre not drunk. Sobre, you can start screaming before it goes in and you know exactly where it goes to hurt the least ... you're wife complains your screaming gives her a headache but you dont' actually feel any pain. Drunk ... ow ! Ow shit ! that hurt ! Fuck .... I aint screaming for the fun of it ! Ow ow ow !
By the way , in case you havn't guessed...
I hate fragman needles.
Actually ... maybe I hate all needles of any kind.
I really do.
yes I will !
Ok, I'm supposed to take a fragman needle every day, because I had a pulmonary embolism, (blood clot in the lungs ) and they dont' want a repeat.
Normally I take it in the belly. Off to the side. I jab it in , I yell a bit , it doesn't really hurt but hey , yelling kills the pain why take the chance yell anyways ?
Well, I'm drunk , not supposed to feel the pain. Supposed to rotate sites, dont' use the belly all the time it gets used up full of bruises etc ...
Jab it (in the leg, not the belly) in forget to yell...
does it hurt ? Hell yes it hurts, definately more than I usually feel it. take a deep breath and start yelling... can't yell that loud I'm drunk that makes me tired.
Press the injector in , lets get this over with quick...
Oh boy do I yell now , and no I'm not covering my pain , I'm yelling becauise I'm *IN* pain ! ow that sob hurts !
finish it out and toss it in the sharps container.
Ummm... ok.
Do needles when you're sobre not drunk. Sobre, you can start screaming before it goes in and you know exactly where it goes to hurt the least ... you're wife complains your screaming gives her a headache but you dont' actually feel any pain. Drunk ... ow ! Ow shit ! that hurt ! Fuck .... I aint screaming for the fun of it ! Ow ow ow !
By the way , in case you havn't guessed...
I hate fragman needles.
Actually ... maybe I hate all needles of any kind.
I really do.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God
Article
KIEV (Reuters) - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.
"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said
You forget. God made the lions too, and watches over them as well, and sometimes throws them a free treat.
LOL !!!!
KIEV (Reuters) - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.
"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said
You forget. God made the lions too, and watches over them as well, and sometimes throws them a free treat.
LOL !!!!
Friday, May 19, 2006
CNN snubs Canada
Canada took it's first female casualty this week since world war II, something that you think would be worth at least a human interest story on CNN.
Article
Hmmm...searching , searching ... nope. Nothing there.
Well..ok... maybe not that intersting.
Canada captured a Taliban leader. You know how the americans go ape over that and splash it all over their newspapers ....
hmmm...searching ...searching....
nope ... not there.
Article
so does CNN have any articles about ANYTHING canada did , good or bad ?
Searching ..nope ..nothing this week. Not a single one.
Sheesh !
No wonder no one ever heard of us !
Article
Hmmm...searching , searching ... nope. Nothing there.
Well..ok... maybe not that intersting.
Canada captured a Taliban leader. You know how the americans go ape over that and splash it all over their newspapers ....
hmmm...searching ...searching....
nope ... not there.
Article
so does CNN have any articles about ANYTHING canada did , good or bad ?
Searching ..nope ..nothing this week. Not a single one.
Sheesh !
No wonder no one ever heard of us !
Super Bloat Ware
I trade my DVD player to my sister for her old lap top , with the understanding that I can borrow it whenever i wind up in the hostpital again. since I have ..lemme see, two dvd players on this computer, one on the other , one in the living room... four dvd players at home , this seems like a pretty good deal to me. Especially since , with a lap top in hand , I probably won't care about a dvd player in the hospital anyways.
The lap top is ... ancient.
4 meg ram , 120 meg hard drive. No pcmcia ports , no phone modem , no network ports ... some kind of custom port on the back , probably predates the existance of pcmcia ports so you're never going to find anything that fits it. It has a floppy disk drive, and thats about it.
How did she get win95 on it in the first place ? I'm impressed.
I put dos 5 on it, and win 3.1 . Yes...yes... I know, my age is showing. Especially when you realize I have original disks for all of that. You're impressed ? I'm impressed, those disks only come with a one year warrenty and thinking back I think I've been carting them around for 15 years. And they still work !
This fills about 8 megs on my 120 meg hard drive. This ...is much better. Now it has room to manouver. I catalog my other disks.
Word processer , 2 floppys (about 3 megs) , spread sheet , the old quattro pro , is the same. An old database , not an ms-access knock off but a real one , Omnis 5 , also 2 megs. I recall an old version of dbase fits on 1 disk but I don't have it.
I'm now thinking of my sisters brand new lap top, with the latest ms-office. It requires several thousand megabytes , in effect , gigabytes , to do the same thing this old lap top could already do 15 years ago.
yes, I mean full color , spell checkers, relational databases not those stupid little one table ones everyone gives away but full blown ones that could actually challenge oracle databases, the whole nine yards. 15 years ago. Color print out's too and everything.
So ... her brand spanking new lap top can do..what ? That this grand old lady of a lap top can't ?
Thinking ... thinking ...
It can play mp3's. Poorly. Through low quality speakers.
The technical name for this , by the way , is "Bloat Ware", whereby you are forced to upgrade software and hardware to remain compatable with everyone else ... but the new systems don't actually *DO* anything more for you than the old stuff did.
15 years ... my how far we HAVN'T come ... lol
The lap top is ... ancient.
4 meg ram , 120 meg hard drive. No pcmcia ports , no phone modem , no network ports ... some kind of custom port on the back , probably predates the existance of pcmcia ports so you're never going to find anything that fits it. It has a floppy disk drive, and thats about it.
How did she get win95 on it in the first place ? I'm impressed.
I put dos 5 on it, and win 3.1 . Yes...yes... I know, my age is showing. Especially when you realize I have original disks for all of that. You're impressed ? I'm impressed, those disks only come with a one year warrenty and thinking back I think I've been carting them around for 15 years. And they still work !
This fills about 8 megs on my 120 meg hard drive. This ...is much better. Now it has room to manouver. I catalog my other disks.
Word processer , 2 floppys (about 3 megs) , spread sheet , the old quattro pro , is the same. An old database , not an ms-access knock off but a real one , Omnis 5 , also 2 megs. I recall an old version of dbase fits on 1 disk but I don't have it.
I'm now thinking of my sisters brand new lap top, with the latest ms-office. It requires several thousand megabytes , in effect , gigabytes , to do the same thing this old lap top could already do 15 years ago.
yes, I mean full color , spell checkers, relational databases not those stupid little one table ones everyone gives away but full blown ones that could actually challenge oracle databases, the whole nine yards. 15 years ago. Color print out's too and everything.
So ... her brand spanking new lap top can do..what ? That this grand old lady of a lap top can't ?
Thinking ... thinking ...
It can play mp3's. Poorly. Through low quality speakers.
The technical name for this , by the way , is "Bloat Ware", whereby you are forced to upgrade software and hardware to remain compatable with everyone else ... but the new systems don't actually *DO* anything more for you than the old stuff did.
15 years ... my how far we HAVN'T come ... lol
7:30 am and Ma Bell
My schedule reads 7:30 am start time tommorow. That's wrong. I've been trying to get my TL (team leader) to change that and he's being saying "yes , of course ,no problem , just give me a few minutes ..." for two weeks now.
Phone up work. Or try to.
Work just moved, a few months back , you see. Just AFTER the new phone books came out, so everyone has the old numbers , which are disconnected. Try www.yellowpages.ca , no luck.
Phone up ma bell, 411 (information , doncha know).
Automated computer answers. Speak the name of the city. Ottawa. Speak the company name. (censored) . One moment please.
Talk to a real person. Explain where it's located. She types a bit and says "Ok, here's the number. " And passes me to a machine !
the machine speaks the wrong number , of course, since I know the number begins with a 6 , and it gives me one beginning with a 2. and now you're out of hand the quarter for calling information, have the wrong number in hand , no way to call back and explain it all without being in hock another quarter, and ma bell must be laughing her fat a$$ off at the whole situation.
I eventually find the company web site, big multinational corp somewhere way down in the states, get someone from public relations to look up the number. finally , a number beginning with a 6 . Phone them up ...
I'm still starting at 7:30 am tommorow.
And now I owe ma bell a quarter on top of it all, for her giving me the wrong number. Oh , I actually phoned that number, hoping against hope. Some computer or fax machine or something answered, screaming electronically in my ear. I just hung up on it.
Phone up work. Or try to.
Work just moved, a few months back , you see. Just AFTER the new phone books came out, so everyone has the old numbers , which are disconnected. Try www.yellowpages.ca , no luck.
Phone up ma bell, 411 (information , doncha know).
Automated computer answers. Speak the name of the city. Ottawa. Speak the company name. (censored) . One moment please.
Talk to a real person. Explain where it's located. She types a bit and says "Ok, here's the number. " And passes me to a machine !
the machine speaks the wrong number , of course, since I know the number begins with a 6 , and it gives me one beginning with a 2. and now you're out of hand the quarter for calling information, have the wrong number in hand , no way to call back and explain it all without being in hock another quarter, and ma bell must be laughing her fat a$$ off at the whole situation.
I eventually find the company web site, big multinational corp somewhere way down in the states, get someone from public relations to look up the number. finally , a number beginning with a 6 . Phone them up ...
I'm still starting at 7:30 am tommorow.
And now I owe ma bell a quarter on top of it all, for her giving me the wrong number. Oh , I actually phoned that number, hoping against hope. Some computer or fax machine or something answered, screaming electronically in my ear. I just hung up on it.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Gun Control Games
Liberals misinformed parliament about millions spent on gun registry: AG
Article
We want gun control. Everyone does. Except the gun lobby who wants to sell guns , of course. So what do we do ? We make a registry so the cops can easily find all fire arms.
And it gets gutted to the point where it's almost useless. As this article says, all information submitted was strictly volintary , no one double checked anything.
And , lets make sure it sinks. Hire two computer firms , not one , but two , to do the same job, just to waste money and deliberately rack up the price.
now the gun fanatics who want everyone shooting everyone as long as they get to sell you the guns can claim how expensive and stupid the idea was in the first place.
It's not expensive and stupid. It was deliberately sabataged in the first place.
Now the conservatives get to try it again , while the people who deliberately sabataged the effort ride their a$$'s about how useless it is to even try such a thing.
And the voters who really want this thing just get hammered with costs for something the gun fanatics will make every effort to gut and destroy a second time.
It would seem we don't really live in a democracy. The will of the electorate seems to come last here.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Legal Summons
A knocking on my door, and a young boy , couldn't be more than 20 , showed up. Took my name down , had an official legal document for my wife.
Is she declaring bankruptcy again ? Man , I am so glad I refuse to co-sign ANYTHING with her.
Nope. She is being divorced.
Oh yeah , I remember this. After we'd been together five years, she abandonned me , ran down to the states and married some guy in order to get american citizen ship.
She'd come right back after he used her and tossed her away. I remember the idiot actually coming up here to visit after she'd returned to me ! In my own house ! I didn't treat him so hot. He thinks maybe to this day he might be a little pissed at me but thats nothing compared to how pissed I am at him for stealing my woman !
Anyways, she came back to me. And stayed married to him, still thinking she wanted that american citizen ship and this would eventually somehow get it for her.
Hmmm... she has thirty days to fight it from the day *I* signed for it, and she's out of the country visiting relatives right now. Wont' be back until twenty of those days are up.
Now ...
... where can I hide this thing so that she won't notice it for 10 days and it will be too late to fight it and she'll be stuck with me ? Hmmm... I think it just accidently fell down behind the fridge ...
Is she declaring bankruptcy again ? Man , I am so glad I refuse to co-sign ANYTHING with her.
Nope. She is being divorced.
Oh yeah , I remember this. After we'd been together five years, she abandonned me , ran down to the states and married some guy in order to get american citizen ship.
She'd come right back after he used her and tossed her away. I remember the idiot actually coming up here to visit after she'd returned to me ! In my own house ! I didn't treat him so hot. He thinks maybe to this day he might be a little pissed at me but thats nothing compared to how pissed I am at him for stealing my woman !
Anyways, she came back to me. And stayed married to him, still thinking she wanted that american citizen ship and this would eventually somehow get it for her.
Hmmm... she has thirty days to fight it from the day *I* signed for it, and she's out of the country visiting relatives right now. Wont' be back until twenty of those days are up.
Now ...
... where can I hide this thing so that she won't notice it for 10 days and it will be too late to fight it and she'll be stuck with me ? Hmmm... I think it just accidently fell down behind the fridge ...
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Aid block 'may ruin Palestinians'
Article
The Hamas-led Palestinian Authority...
A group that got elected by declaring it's hatred of all things jewish and having to do with the infidel west...
...will collapse in poverty and insecurity if it continues to be starved of foreign aid, the World Bank has warned.
So what do you want us jew loving westerner's to do about it ?
In a new report, it says failing to resume aid could "disable" the Authority and set back efforts to build a Palestinian state by "a dozen years".
Considering that the current state being built wants to shoot every westerner it can find and kill every jew in the world... I'm not seeing how this is a bad thing.
The Hamas-led Palestinian Authority...
A group that got elected by declaring it's hatred of all things jewish and having to do with the infidel west...
...will collapse in poverty and insecurity if it continues to be starved of foreign aid, the World Bank has warned.
So what do you want us jew loving westerner's to do about it ?
In a new report, it says failing to resume aid could "disable" the Authority and set back efforts to build a Palestinian state by "a dozen years".
Considering that the current state being built wants to shoot every westerner it can find and kill every jew in the world... I'm not seeing how this is a bad thing.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Accept war deserters, 'Peace Mom' pleads
Article
American anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan wants the Canadian government to grant sanctuary to U.S. army deserters.
Yeah yeah ! We'll harbor American Desterters on one hand , and on the other continue to send troops off to die in Afghanastan and Iraq !
Not going to happen.
"I'm just here begging the people of Canada to force your government — because your government works for you, …because your government does not work for war profiteers — to allow our soldiers to have sanctuary up here," she said.
Ummm.... nope. Sorry...
and uttering the phrase 'war profiteers' doesn't make it so. You still have 3000 casualties from 9/11 as I recall.
Trust me, if 4 guys with carpet knives and a willingness to sacrifice their very lives are incapable of keeping a secret , an entire INDUSTRY of companies, consisting of thousands and thousands, isn't going to be able to keep any conspiracy a secret of any kind. You are deluded in those accusations.
It's estimated 40,000 to 60,000 U.S. draft dodgers fled to Canada during the Vietnam War.
Vietnam is 1950's, it's now 2006. Those desterters , if they were 19 at the time, are now 75 years old. Are you thinking of drafting them too ?
Some people just can't let bygones be bygones.
American anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan wants the Canadian government to grant sanctuary to U.S. army deserters.
Yeah yeah ! We'll harbor American Desterters on one hand , and on the other continue to send troops off to die in Afghanastan and Iraq !
Not going to happen.
"I'm just here begging the people of Canada to force your government — because your government works for you, …because your government does not work for war profiteers — to allow our soldiers to have sanctuary up here," she said.
Ummm.... nope. Sorry...
and uttering the phrase 'war profiteers' doesn't make it so. You still have 3000 casualties from 9/11 as I recall.
Trust me, if 4 guys with carpet knives and a willingness to sacrifice their very lives are incapable of keeping a secret , an entire INDUSTRY of companies, consisting of thousands and thousands, isn't going to be able to keep any conspiracy a secret of any kind. You are deluded in those accusations.
It's estimated 40,000 to 60,000 U.S. draft dodgers fled to Canada during the Vietnam War.
Vietnam is 1950's, it's now 2006. Those desterters , if they were 19 at the time, are now 75 years old. Are you thinking of drafting them too ?
Some people just can't let bygones be bygones.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
"Do you mind if I have a seat ?"
Me and my sister were sitting at the starbucks (a coffee bar) enjoying a nice friday afternoon ( I work weekends, get some week days , like friday off ... sister is currently unemployed) when a 60ish woman came to our table and asked "Do you mind if I have a seat ?"
I'd noticed her around, doing the same thing with a previous woman, but nothing had come of it , no shouting or anything , so we let her sit at our table. It didn't take her long to start in on her sad tale of woe.
Her husband abused her, she didn't know where to go or what to do, a very sad tale. We advised that there were a number of womans shelters for such things , but no , she'd lose all her pretty things if that happened.
She didn't have any brusies or obvious marks on her , but my sister asked anyways , "did he hit you ?"
Dodged the question , and related to us the tale of how her husband called the cops on her , well yes she had blacked out and had a temper tantrum but it was all his fault he made her so mad. It was replent with details about the evil cops sneaking up on her , twisting her hand behind her back "I was just sitting there , honest ! " and dragging her down into the back of the police car. She spent 4 days at the royal ottawa , she relayed to us. All because he had a vendetta and could give a good song and dance to the cops and get her in trouble.
The husband showed up a little later. He was leaving. But , she'd hidden his cheque and he needed that. She was more concerned with what he had packed in his boxes, worried he might have taken her things. She showed no fear, only anger. She did not ask or beg, she commanded, she told him , she was going home and wanted to look in those boxes to make sure he wasn't making off with anything he shouldn't have.
As they walked away , I couldn't help but notice she was taller than him.
So... she was being abused.
And the first thing that comes to her mind is that she got arrested and stuck in the royal ottawa (a mental institute) because he'd made her angry enough that she'd blacked out and thrown a major temper tantrum.
The moment he'd shown up at the coffee bar , she'd transformed from poor little me to pissed off mama bear, just by the sight of him , he hadn't even said anything yet.
I keep seeing news articles about this "abused wife" syndrome. It ends with the wife killing the husband , going to court , and getting off scott free.
He'd mentioned he was only leaving for a week, but if he was smart, he wouldn't come back.
I'd noticed her around, doing the same thing with a previous woman, but nothing had come of it , no shouting or anything , so we let her sit at our table. It didn't take her long to start in on her sad tale of woe.
Her husband abused her, she didn't know where to go or what to do, a very sad tale. We advised that there were a number of womans shelters for such things , but no , she'd lose all her pretty things if that happened.
She didn't have any brusies or obvious marks on her , but my sister asked anyways , "did he hit you ?"
Dodged the question , and related to us the tale of how her husband called the cops on her , well yes she had blacked out and had a temper tantrum but it was all his fault he made her so mad. It was replent with details about the evil cops sneaking up on her , twisting her hand behind her back "I was just sitting there , honest ! " and dragging her down into the back of the police car. She spent 4 days at the royal ottawa , she relayed to us. All because he had a vendetta and could give a good song and dance to the cops and get her in trouble.
The husband showed up a little later. He was leaving. But , she'd hidden his cheque and he needed that. She was more concerned with what he had packed in his boxes, worried he might have taken her things. She showed no fear, only anger. She did not ask or beg, she commanded, she told him , she was going home and wanted to look in those boxes to make sure he wasn't making off with anything he shouldn't have.
As they walked away , I couldn't help but notice she was taller than him.
So... she was being abused.
And the first thing that comes to her mind is that she got arrested and stuck in the royal ottawa (a mental institute) because he'd made her angry enough that she'd blacked out and thrown a major temper tantrum.
The moment he'd shown up at the coffee bar , she'd transformed from poor little me to pissed off mama bear, just by the sight of him , he hadn't even said anything yet.
I keep seeing news articles about this "abused wife" syndrome. It ends with the wife killing the husband , going to court , and getting off scott free.
He'd mentioned he was only leaving for a week, but if he was smart, he wouldn't come back.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Online Games
Which Online Game is most fun ?
I have a selection of online games , mmog's they're called (massive multiplayer online games, or something like that). They all cost the same , 60$ to buy the game (when they first came out) and 15$ / month there after. I had reason to cycle through a number of them and I thought I'd write a review.
World of Warcraft
It's not bad. The rule system is unique and not based on anything else. Combat starts out relatively simple and grows progressively more and more complex as you level up. The first five levels are very rapid , you burn through them in an hour, and you can usually make level 8 or 10 on the first day , assuming several hours game time. Advancement slows considerably after that.
There are a lot of "solo" area's where you can just off monsters all by yourself , a fair number of fixed quests for you to run through , and instance dungeons. The dungeons will require you to party up you cannot really run them alone.
There is a certain difficulty factor that is unavoidable , that is to say if you stay in a low level area , you stop getting experiance. I think the rule is you still get xp if the creature is 5 levels below you , but not 6. And this goes up 1 every 10 levels (at 10th you can get xp of creatures 6 levels below you , at 20th , 7, etc) so you are forced to move on to higher level area's. Elite monsters in "instances" (dungeons that require a full party) generally insure that even a high level charactar that gets no xp from the dungeon will still have a very hard time in it...very hard and fruitless. Ah well.
The games crafting system is interesting and keeps some life into it. Fishing is a waste of time however, that was nerfed a long time ago, but you can make your own weapons and armor and such.
I would rate world of warcraft as a pretty good game, but I don't play it anymore because after a year you just get bored.
EverQuest
I have a new computer.
I must be the only person to have a copy of Everquest and have never played it because it would't run on my old computer. So I put it on this machine and gave it a shot.
Boring , and glitched.
first off, they want you to grind away killing rats and bats as a new charactar, in a combat system that doesn't actually inspire patience (press the auto attack button and wait... or if you're a spell caster there is some stradegy ... wait for the rat to attack , then hit the hot key for your spell and hope it doesn't fizzle.. it should go off before the rat attacks again. Blow the timing , and the rats next attack interrupts the spell).
This took about 1 minute to master and then it was just a boring grind. Gathered my 8 rats and 4 bats and 4 vermin nests I was supposed to kill, and returned to turn them in, speaking to the stated NPC.
She totally ignored me. Wouldn't let me turn in the quest.
And this is on a beginning quest that must have seen a million people go through it with their new charactars. Obviously this game is no longer being maintained.
After a few hours I decided the game was simply too boring, too much grinding , no way to turn in quests, most likely I would get stuck somewhere due to these glitches ... cancelled my subscription the very same day I had applied for it and uninstalled it.
Matrix Online
Charactar creation consisted of simply what does your charactar look like. As you progress , however , you load "abilities" into your memory that give you better and better combat abilities, or spell like abilities (viral attacks and what not .. the whole thing is very computer theme'd if you've ever seen the matrix movies) and of course there's the constant problem that while abilities are easy to come by (you can just buy them at various venders) memory space to load them is in short supply , so you're always fiddling with what you have loaded, what will fit.
Combat comes in two flavours, ranged , and hand to hand. Ranged you select a target , click on the gun or shot gun icon (depending on what weapon is in your hand) and you start firing until either you fall down or the enemy does. Not too complicated.
Hand to hand , is very complicated. You have a selection of attacks, like fast (more speed than damage) , power ( more damage than speed) throw , and block. You also have a special "head butt" abilitie that can only be used on a charactar that is stunned. Oh , your "fast" attack has a chance of stunning. So a beginner tactic is to use your fast attack until the opponent is stunned and then click on the head butt ability to inflict massive damage.
Later on this motief is repeated with special kicks and punches that only work when the enemey is off balance (a throw will leave him off balance) staggered, etc. This tends to make hand to hand combat fairly complicated.
Whats that you say , you'll just stick to ranged ? Sorry , works great at low levels by after a bit the enemy will charge you and force you into hand to hand.
Judging by the training video's in the introduction hall that all charactars go through ranged combat has it's own issues. Weapons don't have the same range, so if you can run fast and stay ahead of the enemey , you can pretty much get free shots off at him until he falls and defeat him without getting hit at all (I also noticed an ability with guns to slow an enemey down by 50% ...hmmm... )
There's a lot of "grinding" in the game (just killing over and over) but the combat system is complicated enough that that isn't as boring as you'd think.
There are also "missions" to be accomplished, and the missions advance some kind of story line that holds the whole game together. When your charactar gets pretty high level (I think level 50) there are "world events" for such high level's.
I see the threads of a crafting system for building your own equipment (you get to see ALL the abilities , even the ones you don't have , and definitions for what they do) though I havn't experimented with it yet. That's always nice.
Multi-class to a fair thee well.
Raise some cash , kill a few thugs, hit the venders. Buy up some "virus/ hacker" abilities, and suddenly your charactar switches from being a kung fu martial artiest to a virus zapping ranged "spell caster" type. Doesnt' work out too well ? You still have those kung fu abilities, just load them up again. Or try out healing for a while , or programming (you get to make a pet that fights alongside with you) and try that for a while. Tweaking exactly what abilities you will load, will you be all the way kung fu ? Or will you take just enough hacking to give yourself some self healing ? Is obviously going to be an art form unto itself.
I have a selection of online games , mmog's they're called (massive multiplayer online games, or something like that). They all cost the same , 60$ to buy the game (when they first came out) and 15$ / month there after. I had reason to cycle through a number of them and I thought I'd write a review.
World of Warcraft
It's not bad. The rule system is unique and not based on anything else. Combat starts out relatively simple and grows progressively more and more complex as you level up. The first five levels are very rapid , you burn through them in an hour, and you can usually make level 8 or 10 on the first day , assuming several hours game time. Advancement slows considerably after that.
There are a lot of "solo" area's where you can just off monsters all by yourself , a fair number of fixed quests for you to run through , and instance dungeons. The dungeons will require you to party up you cannot really run them alone.
There is a certain difficulty factor that is unavoidable , that is to say if you stay in a low level area , you stop getting experiance. I think the rule is you still get xp if the creature is 5 levels below you , but not 6. And this goes up 1 every 10 levels (at 10th you can get xp of creatures 6 levels below you , at 20th , 7, etc) so you are forced to move on to higher level area's. Elite monsters in "instances" (dungeons that require a full party) generally insure that even a high level charactar that gets no xp from the dungeon will still have a very hard time in it...very hard and fruitless. Ah well.
The games crafting system is interesting and keeps some life into it. Fishing is a waste of time however, that was nerfed a long time ago, but you can make your own weapons and armor and such.
I would rate world of warcraft as a pretty good game, but I don't play it anymore because after a year you just get bored.
EverQuest
I have a new computer.
I must be the only person to have a copy of Everquest and have never played it because it would't run on my old computer. So I put it on this machine and gave it a shot.
Boring , and glitched.
first off, they want you to grind away killing rats and bats as a new charactar, in a combat system that doesn't actually inspire patience (press the auto attack button and wait... or if you're a spell caster there is some stradegy ... wait for the rat to attack , then hit the hot key for your spell and hope it doesn't fizzle.. it should go off before the rat attacks again. Blow the timing , and the rats next attack interrupts the spell).
This took about 1 minute to master and then it was just a boring grind. Gathered my 8 rats and 4 bats and 4 vermin nests I was supposed to kill, and returned to turn them in, speaking to the stated NPC.
She totally ignored me. Wouldn't let me turn in the quest.
And this is on a beginning quest that must have seen a million people go through it with their new charactars. Obviously this game is no longer being maintained.
After a few hours I decided the game was simply too boring, too much grinding , no way to turn in quests, most likely I would get stuck somewhere due to these glitches ... cancelled my subscription the very same day I had applied for it and uninstalled it.
Matrix Online
Charactar creation consisted of simply what does your charactar look like. As you progress , however , you load "abilities" into your memory that give you better and better combat abilities, or spell like abilities (viral attacks and what not .. the whole thing is very computer theme'd if you've ever seen the matrix movies) and of course there's the constant problem that while abilities are easy to come by (you can just buy them at various venders) memory space to load them is in short supply , so you're always fiddling with what you have loaded, what will fit.
Combat comes in two flavours, ranged , and hand to hand. Ranged you select a target , click on the gun or shot gun icon (depending on what weapon is in your hand) and you start firing until either you fall down or the enemy does. Not too complicated.
Hand to hand , is very complicated. You have a selection of attacks, like fast (more speed than damage) , power ( more damage than speed) throw , and block. You also have a special "head butt" abilitie that can only be used on a charactar that is stunned. Oh , your "fast" attack has a chance of stunning. So a beginner tactic is to use your fast attack until the opponent is stunned and then click on the head butt ability to inflict massive damage.
Later on this motief is repeated with special kicks and punches that only work when the enemey is off balance (a throw will leave him off balance) staggered, etc. This tends to make hand to hand combat fairly complicated.
Whats that you say , you'll just stick to ranged ? Sorry , works great at low levels by after a bit the enemy will charge you and force you into hand to hand.
Judging by the training video's in the introduction hall that all charactars go through ranged combat has it's own issues. Weapons don't have the same range, so if you can run fast and stay ahead of the enemey , you can pretty much get free shots off at him until he falls and defeat him without getting hit at all (I also noticed an ability with guns to slow an enemey down by 50% ...hmmm... )
There's a lot of "grinding" in the game (just killing over and over) but the combat system is complicated enough that that isn't as boring as you'd think.
There are also "missions" to be accomplished, and the missions advance some kind of story line that holds the whole game together. When your charactar gets pretty high level (I think level 50) there are "world events" for such high level's.
I see the threads of a crafting system for building your own equipment (you get to see ALL the abilities , even the ones you don't have , and definitions for what they do) though I havn't experimented with it yet. That's always nice.
Multi-class to a fair thee well.
Raise some cash , kill a few thugs, hit the venders. Buy up some "virus/ hacker" abilities, and suddenly your charactar switches from being a kung fu martial artiest to a virus zapping ranged "spell caster" type. Doesnt' work out too well ? You still have those kung fu abilities, just load them up again. Or try out healing for a while , or programming (you get to make a pet that fights alongside with you) and try that for a while. Tweaking exactly what abilities you will load, will you be all the way kung fu ? Or will you take just enough hacking to give yourself some self healing ? Is obviously going to be an art form unto itself.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Ottawa Boy
"A defect in the abdomen wall"
What exactly is a "defect" ?
A weakness. I'm a fat bastard. If they cut open my belly (abdomen in medical terms) it will come gushing out , make a big defect ,and when they put it all back together then , it will not be as strong as before. There will be this "defect" showing. Please lose weight , make my life easier, says my surgeon.
Aha.
I barely eat as it is. Two meals a day. don't go to restaurants because a trip to a restaurant generally means I'mg going back to the hostpital ( I have Chrones Disease... anything irritates my belly , I'm hospital bound)
I lift up my t-shirt. I look down. I have two bags, Shcomata bags , or some such. Basically the kind where your intestines have been cut lose from your "anus" and stuck in a hole in your belly , and you now "excrete fecal matter " (shit) through the hole.
Only no one ever cut lose my my intestines. I have "fistula's" , holes my body makes all by itself. Thus why there is two instead of just one that a surgeon would make.
I look down and there are two bags on my belly. And yes, i also still go to the bathroom and dump "fecal matter" as per a normal man would do this.
I'm on predinzone , in 5 years this will give most people a lethal case of Ostrioperosis, (weak bones, all the bone cells die off you break your bones at the drop of a hat and you die quickly from having every bone in your body broken) , so I have to have this operation.
Ok.
I'm a fat bastard and I'm going to have a "defect" in my belly.
So... what exactly does this mean ?
I'm going to be a troll. A fat ugly man with a big scar in his belly , most of his lower intestines missing , crapping into a bag on my belly instead of out my rear end ...
Oh yes. And this is only to stop this bout of Chrones disease, you do understand there is no cure , we may have to come back and cut out some more of your intestine ? Do this all over again ?
"Oh I'm sorry , but the summer surgery schedule isn't out yet. Please call back in two weeks and we'll see if we can schedule your operation then. yes, feel free to call back an check on that in mid may ..."
Welcome to my nightmare.
What exactly is a "defect" ?
A weakness. I'm a fat bastard. If they cut open my belly (abdomen in medical terms) it will come gushing out , make a big defect ,and when they put it all back together then , it will not be as strong as before. There will be this "defect" showing. Please lose weight , make my life easier, says my surgeon.
Aha.
I barely eat as it is. Two meals a day. don't go to restaurants because a trip to a restaurant generally means I'mg going back to the hostpital ( I have Chrones Disease... anything irritates my belly , I'm hospital bound)
I lift up my t-shirt. I look down. I have two bags, Shcomata bags , or some such. Basically the kind where your intestines have been cut lose from your "anus" and stuck in a hole in your belly , and you now "excrete fecal matter " (shit) through the hole.
Only no one ever cut lose my my intestines. I have "fistula's" , holes my body makes all by itself. Thus why there is two instead of just one that a surgeon would make.
I look down and there are two bags on my belly. And yes, i also still go to the bathroom and dump "fecal matter" as per a normal man would do this.
I'm on predinzone , in 5 years this will give most people a lethal case of Ostrioperosis, (weak bones, all the bone cells die off you break your bones at the drop of a hat and you die quickly from having every bone in your body broken) , so I have to have this operation.
Ok.
I'm a fat bastard and I'm going to have a "defect" in my belly.
So... what exactly does this mean ?
I'm going to be a troll. A fat ugly man with a big scar in his belly , most of his lower intestines missing , crapping into a bag on my belly instead of out my rear end ...
Oh yes. And this is only to stop this bout of Chrones disease, you do understand there is no cure , we may have to come back and cut out some more of your intestine ? Do this all over again ?
"Oh I'm sorry , but the summer surgery schedule isn't out yet. Please call back in two weeks and we'll see if we can schedule your operation then. yes, feel free to call back an check on that in mid may ..."
Welcome to my nightmare.
Friday, April 28, 2006
(Empires Fall) More Mail Encryption
Article
There's an excellent extension for Thunderbird, called Enigmail.
It allows you to send and receive public-key encrypted messages from within Thunderbird.
..
Concerned about NSA wiretapping? Install this and use it. It'll most likely make...
Yeah , right !
I used to work at a (name not disclosed) security company up here in canada. They debated for a long time trying to get into the US market writing encryption software , but eventualy decided not to do it. Why ? Because the FBI wanted them to put in a back door to any encryption such that they could instantly break the code and read the messages . Don't do that , and you're not allowed to sell your product in the usa.
It doesn't take much to imagine that every off the shelf "encryption" package of any kind in the US has a similar back door.
If you want encryption write it yourself. Otherwise you're only one you're deluding.
There's an excellent extension for Thunderbird, called Enigmail.
It allows you to send and receive public-key encrypted messages from within Thunderbird.
..
Concerned about NSA wiretapping? Install this and use it. It'll most likely make...
Yeah , right !
I used to work at a (name not disclosed) security company up here in canada. They debated for a long time trying to get into the US market writing encryption software , but eventualy decided not to do it. Why ? Because the FBI wanted them to put in a back door to any encryption such that they could instantly break the code and read the messages . Don't do that , and you're not allowed to sell your product in the usa.
It doesn't take much to imagine that every off the shelf "encryption" package of any kind in the US has a similar back door.
If you want encryption write it yourself. Otherwise you're only one you're deluding.
N.S. educator proposes all-black school
Article
A black educator in Halifax suggests a school exclusively for black students will help them thrive.
Wade Smith, vice-principal at St. Patrick's High School, said the education system is failing black students.
"Putting forward the notion of a black school is something that people might not be comfortable with because it suggests that things aren't working. Then I think you have to look at the possibility of a black school as something positive, that's good for our culture and good for our people," he said.
This is an AMAZINGLY bad idea.
Why ?
It was tried in the USA. The black schools got inferior funding , inferior everything , they became quickly a ghetto to get rid of unwanted students.
Seperating out students for any reason is just asking for trouble. Put them in the same schools and partake of the same resorces is the only way to go.
Just an opinion , just an opinion.
A black educator in Halifax suggests a school exclusively for black students will help them thrive.
Wade Smith, vice-principal at St. Patrick's High School, said the education system is failing black students.
"Putting forward the notion of a black school is something that people might not be comfortable with because it suggests that things aren't working. Then I think you have to look at the possibility of a black school as something positive, that's good for our culture and good for our people," he said.
This is an AMAZINGLY bad idea.
Why ?
It was tried in the USA. The black schools got inferior funding , inferior everything , they became quickly a ghetto to get rid of unwanted students.
Seperating out students for any reason is just asking for trouble. Put them in the same schools and partake of the same resorces is the only way to go.
Just an opinion , just an opinion.
Self Sinker Sunk
Article
Fire-damaged sub won't be operational until 2012
Ah yes, The Chicoutimi , the amazing canadian self sinking submarine. It apears to be sunk for another six years. Money well spent by our government.
The Department of National Defence announced Friday that repairs to Chicoutimi will be delayed for another four years so that the money that would have gone into repairs can be spent elsewhere, including on two of Canada's other submarines.
"This will improve our ability to get Victoria and Corner Brook back into service and better position the navy to have two boats fully operational in 2009," the navy said.
The decision means the Chicoutimi won't be operational until 2012, compared to a previously announced launch date of September 2007.
Ah ha. Do we get our money back from the brits for this pile of junk ? Why do I hear a resounding "NO !" echoing from sea to sea ?
Only one of Canada's four submarines, HMCS Windsor, is now able to go to sea. Sister ships HMCS Corner Brook and HMCS Victoria have been out of service for several years.
Oh good move. We got four sub's , only one of which works. Money well spent all right !
You want my opinion ? You do what they did in yugoslovia before that country broke apart. You put up factories all over the country to make pieces of subs, and you put them together to make the final product, our own made in canada brand new sub. Think of it. Unlimited spare parts, redesign anytime you like , repairs obviously not a problem we built it we fix it.
We've tried second hand subs from elsewhere. Cost a fortune and dont work. We should try this. Even if it sinks (ha ha ) we get a few canadian jobs out of it.
Fire-damaged sub won't be operational until 2012
Ah yes, The Chicoutimi , the amazing canadian self sinking submarine. It apears to be sunk for another six years. Money well spent by our government.
The Department of National Defence announced Friday that repairs to Chicoutimi will be delayed for another four years so that the money that would have gone into repairs can be spent elsewhere, including on two of Canada's other submarines.
"This will improve our ability to get Victoria and Corner Brook back into service and better position the navy to have two boats fully operational in 2009," the navy said.
The decision means the Chicoutimi won't be operational until 2012, compared to a previously announced launch date of September 2007.
Ah ha. Do we get our money back from the brits for this pile of junk ? Why do I hear a resounding "NO !" echoing from sea to sea ?
Only one of Canada's four submarines, HMCS Windsor, is now able to go to sea. Sister ships HMCS Corner Brook and HMCS Victoria have been out of service for several years.
Oh good move. We got four sub's , only one of which works. Money well spent all right !
You want my opinion ? You do what they did in yugoslovia before that country broke apart. You put up factories all over the country to make pieces of subs, and you put them together to make the final product, our own made in canada brand new sub. Think of it. Unlimited spare parts, redesign anytime you like , repairs obviously not a problem we built it we fix it.
We've tried second hand subs from elsewhere. Cost a fortune and dont work. We should try this. Even if it sinks (ha ha ) we get a few canadian jobs out of it.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
New Arab search engine to challenge Google
Article
"If you look at the international search engines, their functionality is non-existent. This market really lacks the support of an Arabic search engine," he said.
...
Sawafi is hoping to copy the success of local Chinese language search engine Baidu, which has made huge strides in a market with over 100 million Web surfers.
The "success" of the Chinese language search is relative. Why ? Because China has heavy censorship.
I can see it now. An arabic search engine, pulling up only anti-jewish hate sites , articles on the Protocols of Zion , Hadiths of the Prophet (the hadiths are basically fake sayings attributed to Islam cobbled together by every dictator and religious fanatic to support their personal opinion ) .. essencially becomeing a massive propoganda tool.
Yup yup...time for the USA to start engaging in a few denial of service attacks when that starts up !
I can see the "cyberwar" beginning already ... I really can.
"If you look at the international search engines, their functionality is non-existent. This market really lacks the support of an Arabic search engine," he said.
...
Sawafi is hoping to copy the success of local Chinese language search engine Baidu, which has made huge strides in a market with over 100 million Web surfers.
The "success" of the Chinese language search is relative. Why ? Because China has heavy censorship.
I can see it now. An arabic search engine, pulling up only anti-jewish hate sites , articles on the Protocols of Zion , Hadiths of the Prophet (the hadiths are basically fake sayings attributed to Islam cobbled together by every dictator and religious fanatic to support their personal opinion ) .. essencially becomeing a massive propoganda tool.
Yup yup...time for the USA to start engaging in a few denial of service attacks when that starts up !
I can see the "cyberwar" beginning already ... I really can.
Iran 'will harm U.S. interests if attacked'
Article
This reminds me of something very interesting. I was watching the TV while eating breakfast ( I only watch the news) and one of the announcers while talking with a guest said that "everyone knows Bin Laden is in Iran being protected by the Iranians". Actually I hadn't heard of this before.
And it didn't show up on any news sites either. Almost like they didn't want anyone to know , presumably to avoid aggrivating the Iranians anymore than they had to.
Now we add together this little charming fact and what do we get ? Iran is behind most of the anti-american terrorism.
But more than that , the terrorism is already going pretty much as strong as it can go. Which actually makes this threat rather empty. They're already doing the best they can , they've already got the volume cranked up to max , so to speak. And you can't turn it up any louder than max. What are you going to do ? Have your pet Bin Laden issue a few more tapes ? maybe blow up another hotel someone in the middle east because you can't actually get to the US the defences are too tough (you've been trying for a number of years now and failing)
Against this, there is the threat of Iran developping nukes.
Yeah , right. That nuke factory is going to get bombed to a fair thee well and the only people going to suffer radiation poisoning are the rag heads who built it in the first place. And if those religious air heads think otherwise they've been rolling their sacred scrolls and smoking them too much !
But of course , they are religous air heads, and far more interested in what their holy Koran is saying than the fact that cnn routinely now publishes ariel photo's of the nuke plant as a subtle hint by the US , as if saying "We know exactly where to drop our bombs...better cool it".
It's almost like watching a damb slowly breaking. You know the Iranians are not going to listen , not going to change the path their on. And you know they're going to get that place bombed, and you know that their reaction is going to launch a few terrorist attacks. Everyone knows. But there's no stopping it.
This reminds me of something very interesting. I was watching the TV while eating breakfast ( I only watch the news) and one of the announcers while talking with a guest said that "everyone knows Bin Laden is in Iran being protected by the Iranians". Actually I hadn't heard of this before.
And it didn't show up on any news sites either. Almost like they didn't want anyone to know , presumably to avoid aggrivating the Iranians anymore than they had to.
Now we add together this little charming fact and what do we get ? Iran is behind most of the anti-american terrorism.
But more than that , the terrorism is already going pretty much as strong as it can go. Which actually makes this threat rather empty. They're already doing the best they can , they've already got the volume cranked up to max , so to speak. And you can't turn it up any louder than max. What are you going to do ? Have your pet Bin Laden issue a few more tapes ? maybe blow up another hotel someone in the middle east because you can't actually get to the US the defences are too tough (you've been trying for a number of years now and failing)
Against this, there is the threat of Iran developping nukes.
Yeah , right. That nuke factory is going to get bombed to a fair thee well and the only people going to suffer radiation poisoning are the rag heads who built it in the first place. And if those religious air heads think otherwise they've been rolling their sacred scrolls and smoking them too much !
But of course , they are religous air heads, and far more interested in what their holy Koran is saying than the fact that cnn routinely now publishes ariel photo's of the nuke plant as a subtle hint by the US , as if saying "We know exactly where to drop our bombs...better cool it".
It's almost like watching a damb slowly breaking. You know the Iranians are not going to listen , not going to change the path their on. And you know they're going to get that place bombed, and you know that their reaction is going to launch a few terrorist attacks. Everyone knows. But there's no stopping it.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Empires Fall
Gotta check my email more often.
new blog wants to link to mine. Writing style is ok , no profanity so I'll do it.
Seems to be as anti-iraq as I am pro iraq though. Well...different opinions make the world go around , what can i say ?
new blog wants to link to mine. Writing style is ok , no profanity so I'll do it.
Seems to be as anti-iraq as I am pro iraq though. Well...different opinions make the world go around , what can i say ?
5% Solution
Saw the doctor today.
Apparently I'm in pretty good health , good enough that they're finally ready to operate. Operate several times it seems what they want to do to my belly isn't going to be done in a single operation.
I asked him two questions.
1. What choice do I have ? Whats the alternative ?
A. Do nothing and continue on as you are now.
- not good. I'm on predizone. You can stay on it for a while , but 5 years and you got ostrioperosis (weak bones, they break at the drop of a hat) and that's fatal.
2. What are my odds of survival.
a. 95%
So a 5% chance I bite the big one and don't have to worry about it ? Like , hello , do I have a choice here ?
I call this one the 5% solution.
Apparently I'm in pretty good health , good enough that they're finally ready to operate. Operate several times it seems what they want to do to my belly isn't going to be done in a single operation.
I asked him two questions.
1. What choice do I have ? Whats the alternative ?
A. Do nothing and continue on as you are now.
- not good. I'm on predizone. You can stay on it for a while , but 5 years and you got ostrioperosis (weak bones, they break at the drop of a hat) and that's fatal.
2. What are my odds of survival.
a. 95%
So a 5% chance I bite the big one and don't have to worry about it ? Like , hello , do I have a choice here ?
I call this one the 5% solution.
Bloated Ad Pages
Ok, I was reading this news article on how martha stewarts stock was doing well, and there was this annoying flashing at the corner of my eye. I look down and what do I see ?
A full color animated movie trying to sell houses.
Hello ? I'm reading a TEXT article ? Simple words on a page, and there's a movie playing off to the side to try and sell me junk ?
I pay for my internet connection , I don't get it for free. And being forced to by faster and faster speed (for more and more money) because some yammer head wants to place MOVIES on every other web page to try and sell me stuff while all I want to do is read the news, is just plain stupid !
Come on ! Surely this qualifies as robbery of some kind ? They're using what , 5% of the connection to show me some text and 95% to show advertising movies ?
Thats not right. Somethings messed up there.
A full color animated movie trying to sell houses.
Hello ? I'm reading a TEXT article ? Simple words on a page, and there's a movie playing off to the side to try and sell me junk ?
I pay for my internet connection , I don't get it for free. And being forced to by faster and faster speed (for more and more money) because some yammer head wants to place MOVIES on every other web page to try and sell me stuff while all I want to do is read the news, is just plain stupid !
Come on ! Surely this qualifies as robbery of some kind ? They're using what , 5% of the connection to show me some text and 95% to show advertising movies ?
Thats not right. Somethings messed up there.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Merchants fume at high tobacco taxes and insurance rates
Article
Korean small-business owners rallied outside Ontario's legislature on Tuesday, demanding that the government listen to their concerns about provincial tobacco policies and other issues.
McGuinty says cigarette sales across the province are down 10 per cent since the Liberals took power in 2003.
The Ontario Korean Businessmen's Association, which organized the demonstration and represents more than 3,000 convenience stores across the province, said many of its members face having to close shop because of increasing cigarette thefts and soaring hydro rates. The association blamed the rise in cigarette thefts on higher tobacco taxes, and noted such crimes in turn force up their insurance rates
Ummm...yeah. Ok.
Cigarettes are BAD , ok ? They kill you with lung cancer. Only the tobacco companies think otherwise, no one else.
If Cigerrets are unprofitable, I suggest you stop selling them ! That will solve that problem real quick ! And a number of others (like people dying from first and second hand smoke)
As for the usual argument that the other guy does and if I dont' sell this stuff everyone will go to his store... well... let them. If he's losing money on cig's , the more customers buying the more he loses. Stick with bread and milk. Most people send their kid to pick up that stuff anyways.
Korean small-business owners rallied outside Ontario's legislature on Tuesday, demanding that the government listen to their concerns about provincial tobacco policies and other issues.
McGuinty says cigarette sales across the province are down 10 per cent since the Liberals took power in 2003.
The Ontario Korean Businessmen's Association, which organized the demonstration and represents more than 3,000 convenience stores across the province, said many of its members face having to close shop because of increasing cigarette thefts and soaring hydro rates. The association blamed the rise in cigarette thefts on higher tobacco taxes, and noted such crimes in turn force up their insurance rates
Ummm...yeah. Ok.
Cigarettes are BAD , ok ? They kill you with lung cancer. Only the tobacco companies think otherwise, no one else.
If Cigerrets are unprofitable, I suggest you stop selling them ! That will solve that problem real quick ! And a number of others (like people dying from first and second hand smoke)
As for the usual argument that the other guy does and if I dont' sell this stuff everyone will go to his store... well... let them. If he's losing money on cig's , the more customers buying the more he loses. Stick with bread and milk. Most people send their kid to pick up that stuff anyways.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Victory over the Evil Parasite McAfee
It's now April 10th , 7 days since I removed the McAfee files from my computer. In the last 7 days I have seen no McAfee pop ups demanding up dates, have your credit card ready , etc.
I delcare the Evil McAfee Parasite vanquished.
I also declare it a parasite, since it should in no wise be this difficult to get rid of a legitimate program. You should just go to add-remove programs, hit uninstall , and it's gone. This business about playing with the Msconfig utility to turn things off, and even that has been sabataged to turn it right back on again ... that kind of dirty underhanded stunt is what you expect from a virus program, not an anti-virus program.
McAfee is Learning too much from the enemey , becoming too much like the enemey. I can only advise you stay away from it. It has been "corrupted" at the most basic of levels. The corperation that creates it has adopted the very methodology of the virus writers they puport to fight, and do not realize they have stepped over the line and joined the ranks of those virus writers.
more than an opinion this time.
It's a fact.
I delcare the Evil McAfee Parasite vanquished.
I also declare it a parasite, since it should in no wise be this difficult to get rid of a legitimate program. You should just go to add-remove programs, hit uninstall , and it's gone. This business about playing with the Msconfig utility to turn things off, and even that has been sabataged to turn it right back on again ... that kind of dirty underhanded stunt is what you expect from a virus program, not an anti-virus program.
McAfee is Learning too much from the enemey , becoming too much like the enemey. I can only advise you stay away from it. It has been "corrupted" at the most basic of levels. The corperation that creates it has adopted the very methodology of the virus writers they puport to fight, and do not realize they have stepped over the line and joined the ranks of those virus writers.
more than an opinion this time.
It's a fact.
Ontario's future dark without coal-fired plants
Article
Hydro rates will climb significantly and job losses will follow if the provincial government proceeds with plans to shut down Ontario's coal-fired plants, says a lobby group for major power consumers.
"Under the current plan, electricity prices are going to rise by $3 billion a year and an average of 25 per cent per year," said Adam White, the head of the Association of Major Power Consumers, which released its report on Monday.
The Liberals plan to phase out coal-burning plants by 2009 and replace them with cleaner energy sources.
no no no ! Don't phase out those dirty stinky polluting coal fire plants ! ignore the fact that we're running out of coal and there is no "new coal" being created and you'll have to replace them eventually , getting rid of them will cost us money !!!!
The association says that plan would cost 100,000 jobs in industries such as pulp and paper, nickel and steel, while Ontario's real gross domestic product could drop by as much as $16 billion.
1.. how is pulp, paper , nickel and steel related to coal production ? Why would they drop ?
2.. Pulp, paper nickel , and steel are some of the heaviest polluting industries in ontario. I should think a drop in them would be a good thing. More clean air to breath and all that.
3.. pollution is a bad thing. Go to Los Angeles on a bad day , stand on a street corner, and just try to breath. Not being able to breath is definately a bad thing.
Hydro rates will climb significantly and job losses will follow if the provincial government proceeds with plans to shut down Ontario's coal-fired plants, says a lobby group for major power consumers.
"Under the current plan, electricity prices are going to rise by $3 billion a year and an average of 25 per cent per year," said Adam White, the head of the Association of Major Power Consumers, which released its report on Monday.
The Liberals plan to phase out coal-burning plants by 2009 and replace them with cleaner energy sources.
no no no ! Don't phase out those dirty stinky polluting coal fire plants ! ignore the fact that we're running out of coal and there is no "new coal" being created and you'll have to replace them eventually , getting rid of them will cost us money !!!!
The association says that plan would cost 100,000 jobs in industries such as pulp and paper, nickel and steel, while Ontario's real gross domestic product could drop by as much as $16 billion.
1.. how is pulp, paper , nickel and steel related to coal production ? Why would they drop ?
2.. Pulp, paper nickel , and steel are some of the heaviest polluting industries in ontario. I should think a drop in them would be a good thing. More clean air to breath and all that.
3.. pollution is a bad thing. Go to Los Angeles on a bad day , stand on a street corner, and just try to breath. Not being able to breath is definately a bad thing.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Tribunal dismisses eviction for blog comments
Article
A Kingston woman can't be evicted from her apartment for comments she posted about her landlord on her blog, a tribunal ruled Tuesday.
Hrray ! A victory for free speach !
The Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal dismissed the eviction order, saying Homestead failed to prove the accusations posted on the blog were unfounded.
thats not much of a victory ! So what your'e saying is that if the comments had proved to be unfounded they could successfully evict her ?
Hmmm.... Actually , thats not that bad a deal. If you slander your land lord they can boot you....
Unfortuantely doesn't work on jobs. most jobs can fire you any time they like , just make up a reason , or the position has become redundant or some such.
ah well. When you go public , I guess you better be able to back up your words.
A Kingston woman can't be evicted from her apartment for comments she posted about her landlord on her blog, a tribunal ruled Tuesday.
Hrray ! A victory for free speach !
The Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal dismissed the eviction order, saying Homestead failed to prove the accusations posted on the blog were unfounded.
thats not much of a victory ! So what your'e saying is that if the comments had proved to be unfounded they could successfully evict her ?
Hmmm.... Actually , thats not that bad a deal. If you slander your land lord they can boot you....
Unfortuantely doesn't work on jobs. most jobs can fire you any time they like , just make up a reason , or the position has become redundant or some such.
ah well. When you go public , I guess you better be able to back up your words.
Monday, April 03, 2006
The McAfee Adventure Continues
The McAfee update agent keeps popping up with a "critical update" . hah ! To a program I'm trying hard to get rid of !
A check on various online forums indicates that getting rid of McAfee is a nightmare, there are three hundred registry entries you have to get rid of , and you have to do it by hand there is no automated tool. (nice to know I'm not the only one having issues).
Hah ! But I got around it. (I think... it looks good so far).
msconfig / Start up , remove the checks from the stuff in the mcafee folders. Reboot... odd, check marks come right back. Do as it suggest press general and do a normal start up , and ALL the check marks for every mcaffee and other program I wanted to ditch comes back !
But I got it's number now. Msconfig is my guide. It actually gives the exact location of the files it's running on start up.
Write them down , go to the mcafee folders , and DELETE those files !
Ah... blessed silence. At least so far.
We'll see how this latest action on the Mcafee battle front goes.... let you know in a few days.
A check on various online forums indicates that getting rid of McAfee is a nightmare, there are three hundred registry entries you have to get rid of , and you have to do it by hand there is no automated tool. (nice to know I'm not the only one having issues).
Hah ! But I got around it. (I think... it looks good so far).
msconfig / Start up , remove the checks from the stuff in the mcafee folders. Reboot... odd, check marks come right back. Do as it suggest press general and do a normal start up , and ALL the check marks for every mcaffee and other program I wanted to ditch comes back !
But I got it's number now. Msconfig is my guide. It actually gives the exact location of the files it's running on start up.
Write them down , go to the mcafee folders , and DELETE those files !
Ah... blessed silence. At least so far.
We'll see how this latest action on the Mcafee battle front goes.... let you know in a few days.
Friday, March 24, 2006
New Computer and McAffery
I got a new computer ! A Dell Dimension 1100 !
Unpacked it and set it up.
Hmmm... 90 trial copy of McAffee , well , I get a free virus scanner from my provider, I'll just uninstall it.
Can't uninstall it, the virus scanner is running. How do I turn off the virus scanner ? Doesn't say.
How do I turn off this dang spam killer ? Doesn't say.
Got to mcaffee website.... look up uninstall, get directed to an FAQ (frequently asked question) list to the catagory install/uninstall. Which , after a link or two, is magically transformed into install / reinstall, the uninstal part seems to have comlpetely vanished.
Apparently uninstalling the software and using someone elses isn't a possibility in their perfect little world.
I eventually ran msconfig and took the checkmark off any program in the mcaffery folder. Still got the spam filter...I'm working on that. I think that spam killer is in a different directory.
Oh ..it came with a free copy of word perfect ! Start it up ... welcome to your free 90 day trial copy of world perfect ... shut it down. (You have to pay after the 90 days , the main reason I wanna ditch macafee in favor of the free anti virus that comes with my provider)
And of course don't forget your free trial copy of aol have your credit card ready !
*sigh* Why is my brand new computer doing nothing but trying to sell me tons of junk ? If the whole world wasn't going xp I wouldn't have bothered.
Unpacked it and set it up.
Hmmm... 90 trial copy of McAffee , well , I get a free virus scanner from my provider, I'll just uninstall it.
Can't uninstall it, the virus scanner is running. How do I turn off the virus scanner ? Doesn't say.
How do I turn off this dang spam killer ? Doesn't say.
Got to mcaffee website.... look up uninstall, get directed to an FAQ (frequently asked question) list to the catagory install/uninstall. Which , after a link or two, is magically transformed into install / reinstall, the uninstal part seems to have comlpetely vanished.
Apparently uninstalling the software and using someone elses isn't a possibility in their perfect little world.
I eventually ran msconfig and took the checkmark off any program in the mcaffery folder. Still got the spam filter...I'm working on that. I think that spam killer is in a different directory.
Oh ..it came with a free copy of word perfect ! Start it up ... welcome to your free 90 day trial copy of world perfect ... shut it down. (You have to pay after the 90 days , the main reason I wanna ditch macafee in favor of the free anti virus that comes with my provider)
And of course don't forget your free trial copy of aol have your credit card ready !
*sigh* Why is my brand new computer doing nothing but trying to sell me tons of junk ? If the whole world wasn't going xp I wouldn't have bothered.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Microsoft launches Web search engine
Article
SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- In its latest bid to catch up with rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. is launching a revamped Internet search engine it says will help computer users find information faster, view it more easily and organize it better.
I predict that the Microsoft Search Engine will be the Bane of most techies existance. Why ?
Windows Updates have a habit of causing products that compete with anything Microsoft is doing to stop working. In effect locking you into a microsoft only world.
I bought a compiler once from microsoft. I thought it was a "Java" compiler which would make programs that run on Internet Explorer or Netscape , the competiter of Internet Explorer. Wrong. It only worte stuff for the internet explorer. Hundred and fifty bucks wasted.
This pattern repeats itself in many many of Bill Gates endeavours. I recall reading of a mapping site he made that showed his cheif competiters building (apple) to be empty.
A micrsoft web search engine will find microsoft products very easily , and likely will not find competing producs at all , at all , at all... making it little better than those search toolbars that every anti-virus program in the world marks as a "parasite".
SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- In its latest bid to catch up with rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. is launching a revamped Internet search engine it says will help computer users find information faster, view it more easily and organize it better.
I predict that the Microsoft Search Engine will be the Bane of most techies existance. Why ?
Windows Updates have a habit of causing products that compete with anything Microsoft is doing to stop working. In effect locking you into a microsoft only world.
I bought a compiler once from microsoft. I thought it was a "Java" compiler which would make programs that run on Internet Explorer or Netscape , the competiter of Internet Explorer. Wrong. It only worte stuff for the internet explorer. Hundred and fifty bucks wasted.
This pattern repeats itself in many many of Bill Gates endeavours. I recall reading of a mapping site he made that showed his cheif competiters building (apple) to be empty.
A micrsoft web search engine will find microsoft products very easily , and likely will not find competing producs at all , at all , at all... making it little better than those search toolbars that every anti-virus program in the world marks as a "parasite".
Friday, March 17, 2006
Canada wins another round in softwood battle with U.S.
Article
Canada has won another free trade ruling in the softwood lumber dispute with the United States, the federal government says.
* INDEPTH: Softwood Lumber
Canada's battle with the United States over softwood lumber tariffs has been raging since 2002.
The NAFTA decision found that Canadian softwood exports are not subsidized, the government said. That means the U.S. never had the right to impose the $5.2 billion in duties it has collected on Canadian lumber imports,
So what else is new ? The USA has basically run itself out of trees, Canada has many because it's land mass is far larger than the usa and the population is far smaller. And tree's , if left alone , are happy to grow themselves without any help from anyone , an obvious truth to anyone who care's to look.
"This is the second NAFTA panel comprised of a majority of Americans to have unanimously ruled that there is no merit to the U.S. allegations, first regarding injury, and now regarding subsidy."
A unanimous decision ? Thats nice, but so was the last one and it did nothing.
The U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports was not happy with the ruling.
"The NAFTA panel decision issued today is gravely flawed, and signifies a potential end to an important antidote in the U.S. lumber industry's efforts to counter the poison that is Canadian lumber industry practices,"
Gravely flawed , antidote, poison ... yah yah , sore losers. Except you didn't lose. We went through this last time , you bribed a few senators and the USA told canada to go climb a tree, they're ignoring this decision by a trade body they set up in the first place.
And around we go on this merry go around again .
Canada has won another free trade ruling in the softwood lumber dispute with the United States, the federal government says.
* INDEPTH: Softwood Lumber
Canada's battle with the United States over softwood lumber tariffs has been raging since 2002.
The NAFTA decision found that Canadian softwood exports are not subsidized, the government said. That means the U.S. never had the right to impose the $5.2 billion in duties it has collected on Canadian lumber imports,
So what else is new ? The USA has basically run itself out of trees, Canada has many because it's land mass is far larger than the usa and the population is far smaller. And tree's , if left alone , are happy to grow themselves without any help from anyone , an obvious truth to anyone who care's to look.
"This is the second NAFTA panel comprised of a majority of Americans to have unanimously ruled that there is no merit to the U.S. allegations, first regarding injury, and now regarding subsidy."
A unanimous decision ? Thats nice, but so was the last one and it did nothing.
The U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports was not happy with the ruling.
"The NAFTA panel decision issued today is gravely flawed, and signifies a potential end to an important antidote in the U.S. lumber industry's efforts to counter the poison that is Canadian lumber industry practices,"
Gravely flawed , antidote, poison ... yah yah , sore losers. Except you didn't lose. We went through this last time , you bribed a few senators and the USA told canada to go climb a tree, they're ignoring this decision by a trade body they set up in the first place.
And around we go on this merry go around again .
Sunday, March 12, 2006
When has Canada been attacked? I must have missed that.
Ottawa Boy: Relatives of dead soldier question Canada's role in Afghanistan
Anonymous said...
"We should stop it and let those terrorists keep attacking us..."
When has Canada been attacked? I must have missed that.
Face it, that boy died for Uncle Sam, not Bucky Beaver. And now that the PM of Canada is an official Bush fartcatcher, expect alot more Canadians to die for Uncle Sam. We'll probably be heading off to the utterly useless quagmire of Iraq any day now.
Dear , sweet , brave , Anonymous
We are not attacked because we sit beside the US , and the US would counter attack them.
(edit : If you're one of those people that believe that we would not be attacked if the US were not there...then you live in some kind of fantasy world that I don't even want to deal with ...seek psychological counciling immeidately. 30 million people scattered thinly through the third largest nation in the world with vast wealth in oil and minerals under our feet ? They'll be lining up for miles to arrage a "regime change" !)
At which point , there are a lot of people that would say that we don't need a military of any kind , Daddy Warbucks (also known as Uncle Sam) will take care of us.
Well...we'll forget the part where you're pissing on uncle sam on one hand and on the other happy to suggest a stradegy whereby he continues to protect us... (presumably he doesn't mind being pissed on by ignorant idiots like you while he's doing all the dying) and move along to the part where we discuss "Adulthood" , a concept that I'm sure is far beyond your feeble comprehension.
Adult hood is where you do not whine and beg someone else to do your work for you , you do it yourself. If you are the junior partner in some relationship , you do not slack off and do nothing, you pull what weight you can.
Canada , it is true , is the junior partner in north american defence. So we are , according to you , obligated to do absolutely nothing and let the americans die for us. Or , according to me , pull what weight we can so we at least get a say at the table when important issues come up. There's no way we can single handedly win the war in Afghanistan or Iraq, but that doesn't mean we should do nothing. We should do what we can. Even if it's only 5% of what the americans can do , we owe them that 5%.
Iraq and Afghanistan are Just Wars. War's where the first words out of the mouths of the rich and the religous over there are "we don't need no stinking democracy , we like our dictatorship's just the way they are." Wars where the common person like me and you are lined up against the wall and shot because they didn't have enough money to bribe the cops this week to leave them alone.
When has canada been attacked ?
whenever someone decides they're going to kill off our much maligned , not so shiny knight in some what dented armor and thus remove our protection from every tom dick and harry who thinks they might want a little extra land , we are being attacked.
Give the knight his due , and don't shout too loud about all the dents and scuffs in his armor, he's doing his job , we should do ours.
Just an opinion, just an opinion.
Anonymous said...
"We should stop it and let those terrorists keep attacking us..."
When has Canada been attacked? I must have missed that.
Face it, that boy died for Uncle Sam, not Bucky Beaver. And now that the PM of Canada is an official Bush fartcatcher, expect alot more Canadians to die for Uncle Sam. We'll probably be heading off to the utterly useless quagmire of Iraq any day now.
Dear , sweet , brave , Anonymous
We are not attacked because we sit beside the US , and the US would counter attack them.
(edit : If you're one of those people that believe that we would not be attacked if the US were not there...then you live in some kind of fantasy world that I don't even want to deal with ...seek psychological counciling immeidately. 30 million people scattered thinly through the third largest nation in the world with vast wealth in oil and minerals under our feet ? They'll be lining up for miles to arrage a "regime change" !)
At which point , there are a lot of people that would say that we don't need a military of any kind , Daddy Warbucks (also known as Uncle Sam) will take care of us.
Well...we'll forget the part where you're pissing on uncle sam on one hand and on the other happy to suggest a stradegy whereby he continues to protect us... (presumably he doesn't mind being pissed on by ignorant idiots like you while he's doing all the dying) and move along to the part where we discuss "Adulthood" , a concept that I'm sure is far beyond your feeble comprehension.
Adult hood is where you do not whine and beg someone else to do your work for you , you do it yourself. If you are the junior partner in some relationship , you do not slack off and do nothing, you pull what weight you can.
Canada , it is true , is the junior partner in north american defence. So we are , according to you , obligated to do absolutely nothing and let the americans die for us. Or , according to me , pull what weight we can so we at least get a say at the table when important issues come up. There's no way we can single handedly win the war in Afghanistan or Iraq, but that doesn't mean we should do nothing. We should do what we can. Even if it's only 5% of what the americans can do , we owe them that 5%.
Iraq and Afghanistan are Just Wars. War's where the first words out of the mouths of the rich and the religous over there are "we don't need no stinking democracy , we like our dictatorship's just the way they are." Wars where the common person like me and you are lined up against the wall and shot because they didn't have enough money to bribe the cops this week to leave them alone.
When has canada been attacked ?
whenever someone decides they're going to kill off our much maligned , not so shiny knight in some what dented armor and thus remove our protection from every tom dick and harry who thinks they might want a little extra land , we are being attacked.
Give the knight his due , and don't shout too loud about all the dents and scuffs in his armor, he's doing his job , we should do ours.
Just an opinion, just an opinion.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Ottawa police break up major identity theft ring
Article
Police say online employment ads were used to lure victims to send resumes. When they applied, they received a letter promising a high-paying position from one of four companies – Logistic Telecom, Microtel, Idcor or Pastel Media.
The letter requested candidates to send a $20 administration fee and fill out an application form.
The form asked for personal information such as a social insurance number, a driver's licence number, full name, and address. That information was then used to apply for credit cards. About $500,000 was racked up for such items as high-end electronics.
Oh oh. The 20$ is a good clue not to fill out the applciation. But the rest of it ? My employer asks for that , it's a legitimate request for doing taxes. How the heck would you know it was bogus if they didn't get greedy over the 20$ ?
I think online job applications are about to die. An employer HAS to have that information to remit money to the tax man. And that means a smart scammer has an open door to plunder the unemployed for such things.
The scam was discovered when a man from Ottawa complained to Canada Post that he was no longer receiving his mail. Officials found his mail had been transferred, but he had never requested the switch.
Canada Post then contacted Ottawa police, who discovered other people had also had their mail redirected to a post office box without their knowledge.
Police tracked down the rerouted mail to the home in Orléans where they arrested two individuals.
Yeah , once you reroute the mail thats pretty much all she wrote. All notices now go to the scammers instead of you.
So much for sending out resume's by email.
Police say online employment ads were used to lure victims to send resumes. When they applied, they received a letter promising a high-paying position from one of four companies – Logistic Telecom, Microtel, Idcor or Pastel Media.
The letter requested candidates to send a $20 administration fee and fill out an application form.
The form asked for personal information such as a social insurance number, a driver's licence number, full name, and address. That information was then used to apply for credit cards. About $500,000 was racked up for such items as high-end electronics.
Oh oh. The 20$ is a good clue not to fill out the applciation. But the rest of it ? My employer asks for that , it's a legitimate request for doing taxes. How the heck would you know it was bogus if they didn't get greedy over the 20$ ?
I think online job applications are about to die. An employer HAS to have that information to remit money to the tax man. And that means a smart scammer has an open door to plunder the unemployed for such things.
The scam was discovered when a man from Ottawa complained to Canada Post that he was no longer receiving his mail. Officials found his mail had been transferred, but he had never requested the switch.
Canada Post then contacted Ottawa police, who discovered other people had also had their mail redirected to a post office box without their knowledge.
Police tracked down the rerouted mail to the home in Orléans where they arrested two individuals.
Yeah , once you reroute the mail thats pretty much all she wrote. All notices now go to the scammers instead of you.
So much for sending out resume's by email.
Slain parole officer faced unnecessary danger: probe
Article
Louise Pargeter, 34, was visiting Eli Ulayuk in October 2004 when he hit her several times with a hammer, then strangled her to death, marking the first time a Canadian parole officer was killed on the job.
..
Ulayuk pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month. A judge sentenced him to life in prison, recommending no parole for at least 25 years
In 1988, Ulayuk killed a 23-year-old woman by stabbing and then strangling her.
"There's no absolute guarantee, no predicting criminal behaviour in a lot of cases, " Campbell said.
No predicting criminal behavour ?
the guy murdered a woman in an exceptionally violent and brutal mannor, and you sent an unarmed FEMALE parole officer to his home, ALONE , to meet with him ?
I would arrest you for manslaughter , personally. Criminal neglegence causing the death of your own employee.
"But we're doing everything we can to reduce the risks to not only our officers, but the communities at large."
Judging by this incident, "everything you can" is "diddly squat" ...
Louise Pargeter, 34, was visiting Eli Ulayuk in October 2004 when he hit her several times with a hammer, then strangled her to death, marking the first time a Canadian parole officer was killed on the job.
..
Ulayuk pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month. A judge sentenced him to life in prison, recommending no parole for at least 25 years
In 1988, Ulayuk killed a 23-year-old woman by stabbing and then strangling her.
"There's no absolute guarantee, no predicting criminal behaviour in a lot of cases, " Campbell said.
No predicting criminal behavour ?
the guy murdered a woman in an exceptionally violent and brutal mannor, and you sent an unarmed FEMALE parole officer to his home, ALONE , to meet with him ?
I would arrest you for manslaughter , personally. Criminal neglegence causing the death of your own employee.
"But we're doing everything we can to reduce the risks to not only our officers, but the communities at large."
Judging by this incident, "everything you can" is "diddly squat" ...
Relatives of dead soldier question Canada's role in Afghanistan
Article
Relatives of dead soldier question Canada's role in Afghanistan
Last Updated Thu, 09 Mar 2006 07:17:21 EST
CBC News
The mother and aunt of a Newfoundland soldier who was killed in Afghanistan are calling on the federal government to reconsider Canada's role there.
Cpl. Jamie Murphy died in a suicide bomb attack near Kabul in January 2004. Two years later, Murphy's mother says his death still haunts her.
Cpl. Jamie Murphy
"I think about Jamie every second of every day," said Alice Murphy, who lives in Conception Harbour, N.L.
She said memories of her son's death are revived whenever she hears of new casualties.
Oh please ! PLEASE ! Don't let my son die ! People die in war ! We should stop it and let those terrorists keep attacking us , keep killing people and sending off suicide bombs... I don't want my son to die ! I don't care about anyone else !
Yeah. Right.
Need a better excuse than "he might get hurt" not to send people to war. Especially war against some arabs that have decided we should all stop breathing and they should take over the world and convert it all to their religion.
And then they can get back to the infighting of which particular version of that religion was right ? You don't agree with me , better start killing you .... and so the fighting continues anyways.
Relatives of dead soldier question Canada's role in Afghanistan
Last Updated Thu, 09 Mar 2006 07:17:21 EST
CBC News
The mother and aunt of a Newfoundland soldier who was killed in Afghanistan are calling on the federal government to reconsider Canada's role there.
Cpl. Jamie Murphy died in a suicide bomb attack near Kabul in January 2004. Two years later, Murphy's mother says his death still haunts her.
Cpl. Jamie Murphy
"I think about Jamie every second of every day," said Alice Murphy, who lives in Conception Harbour, N.L.
She said memories of her son's death are revived whenever she hears of new casualties.
Oh please ! PLEASE ! Don't let my son die ! People die in war ! We should stop it and let those terrorists keep attacking us , keep killing people and sending off suicide bombs... I don't want my son to die ! I don't care about anyone else !
Yeah. Right.
Need a better excuse than "he might get hurt" not to send people to war. Especially war against some arabs that have decided we should all stop breathing and they should take over the world and convert it all to their religion.
And then they can get back to the infighting of which particular version of that religion was right ? You don't agree with me , better start killing you .... and so the fighting continues anyways.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Woman loses frozen embryo battle
Article
LONDON, England -- The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a British woman has no right to use frozen embryos to have a baby without the consent of the man who provided the sperm
This is an example of the Law tripping over itself in it's rush to protect everyone.
Why ?
Because the eggs are already fertalized, by her former husband (they're split up now). So if they get used to impregnate her , guess what ? They're his kids and he's responsible for them. Financially too ! Alimony time !
Of course you can't hit him with that without proper warning , so you have to have his permission to use those eggs. He's incurring a big financial burden if he agrees.
Of course he's not going to agree because he split up with her.
And of course, you can't cut a deal such that "you can use them so long as I don't have to pay" because now you're permitting him to black mail her. And thats not fair to her , or to the state that's going to wind up paying for it all when she winds up on welfare because she has no husband.
So instead of this now infertile woman who cleverly put away some eggs for a rainy day having kids, now she gets nothing.
Yeah. The law is protecting her real good. Aha.
LONDON, England -- The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a British woman has no right to use frozen embryos to have a baby without the consent of the man who provided the sperm
This is an example of the Law tripping over itself in it's rush to protect everyone.
Why ?
Because the eggs are already fertalized, by her former husband (they're split up now). So if they get used to impregnate her , guess what ? They're his kids and he's responsible for them. Financially too ! Alimony time !
Of course you can't hit him with that without proper warning , so you have to have his permission to use those eggs. He's incurring a big financial burden if he agrees.
Of course he's not going to agree because he split up with her.
And of course, you can't cut a deal such that "you can use them so long as I don't have to pay" because now you're permitting him to black mail her. And thats not fair to her , or to the state that's going to wind up paying for it all when she winds up on welfare because she has no husband.
So instead of this now infertile woman who cleverly put away some eggs for a rainy day having kids, now she gets nothing.
Yeah. The law is protecting her real good. Aha.
Vonage Canada wants CRTC to investigate Shaw Cable's 'VoIP tax'
Article
Vonage, which offers voice-over-Internet protocol services that depend on lines provided mainly by phone and cable companies like Shaw, said Tuesday that Shaw shouldn't be charging an extra fee to customers for high-priority Internet service.
"Shaw's VoIP tax is an unfair attempt to drive up the price of competing
VoIP services to protect its own high-priced service,
What is VoIP ?
Voice over IP , or a phone that runs through the internet , not through the phone lines. Very cheap , much cheaper than a regular phone through the phone lines.
The issue here is that Shaw Cable provides an internet connection. AND it provides it's own VoIP service on that internet connection. But you can use a competiter. If you pay Shaw it's "tax". A tax for it doing nothing but what you're already paying for anyways (an internet connection).
Is this fair ? No.
Is it inevitable ? Yes. Shaw , and any IP provider , dictates the terms of service , decides what you can and cannot use their network for. So yeah , they can block out VoIP from a competiter if they want.
Which sucks. And the Law on this should be changed ( up here in canada at least). Because now you're talking "bundling", the practice of selling the customer not just one service but a bunch of them , and denying the customer the ability to shop around , thus allowing you to charge anything you like for certain extra's , like an internet phone (VoIP).
It's also a moot point ?
Why ?
Cell phones are dirt cheap.
Ha ha ! Let them fight over the table scraps. Real users don't use regular phones or VoIP ! Ha ha !
Vonage, which offers voice-over-Internet protocol services that depend on lines provided mainly by phone and cable companies like Shaw, said Tuesday that Shaw shouldn't be charging an extra fee to customers for high-priority Internet service.
"Shaw's VoIP tax is an unfair attempt to drive up the price of competing
VoIP services to protect its own high-priced service,
What is VoIP ?
Voice over IP , or a phone that runs through the internet , not through the phone lines. Very cheap , much cheaper than a regular phone through the phone lines.
The issue here is that Shaw Cable provides an internet connection. AND it provides it's own VoIP service on that internet connection. But you can use a competiter. If you pay Shaw it's "tax". A tax for it doing nothing but what you're already paying for anyways (an internet connection).
Is this fair ? No.
Is it inevitable ? Yes. Shaw , and any IP provider , dictates the terms of service , decides what you can and cannot use their network for. So yeah , they can block out VoIP from a competiter if they want.
Which sucks. And the Law on this should be changed ( up here in canada at least). Because now you're talking "bundling", the practice of selling the customer not just one service but a bunch of them , and denying the customer the ability to shop around , thus allowing you to charge anything you like for certain extra's , like an internet phone (VoIP).
It's also a moot point ?
Why ?
Cell phones are dirt cheap.
Ha ha ! Let them fight over the table scraps. Real users don't use regular phones or VoIP ! Ha ha !
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Iran native charged with attempted murder at UNC
Article
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (AP) -- A recent University of North Carolina graduate was charged with nine counts of attempted murder Saturday, a day after authorities say he drove through a popular campus gathering spot in an attempt to avenge Muslim deaths.
Derek Poarch, chief of the university police department, confirmed Saturday that Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, a 22-year-old Iran native, told investigators he wanted to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world." Poarch would not provide any other details on the motive.
No one was seriously hurt in the incident just before noon Friday at The Pit, a sunken, brick-paved area surrounded by two libraries, a dining hall and the student union near the center of campus.
Ok. I'm ticked off at you for killing muslims. I volinteer to go out and kill some stupid americans.
But I'm stupid, and lazy, and even driving a jeep through a heavily crowded area I couldn't hit anyone if my life depended on it. So I got a kill count of ZERO.
Taheri-azar, who called police to surrender and then awaited officers on a street two miles from campus, is cooperating with investigators
Then I just decide to give it up as a bad job, call the cops and surrender.
Todays special word is "incompetance" , a word many muslims are deeply familiar with , it seems. In a country where it is dirt easy to get a gun, you decide to try a jeep instead. And then you surrender. After killing no one.
I try to be afraid of the muslim terrorist, I really do , but this ... is just plain silly.
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (AP) -- A recent University of North Carolina graduate was charged with nine counts of attempted murder Saturday, a day after authorities say he drove through a popular campus gathering spot in an attempt to avenge Muslim deaths.
Derek Poarch, chief of the university police department, confirmed Saturday that Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, a 22-year-old Iran native, told investigators he wanted to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world." Poarch would not provide any other details on the motive.
No one was seriously hurt in the incident just before noon Friday at The Pit, a sunken, brick-paved area surrounded by two libraries, a dining hall and the student union near the center of campus.
Ok. I'm ticked off at you for killing muslims. I volinteer to go out and kill some stupid americans.
But I'm stupid, and lazy, and even driving a jeep through a heavily crowded area I couldn't hit anyone if my life depended on it. So I got a kill count of ZERO.
Taheri-azar, who called police to surrender and then awaited officers on a street two miles from campus, is cooperating with investigators
Then I just decide to give it up as a bad job, call the cops and surrender.
Todays special word is "incompetance" , a word many muslims are deeply familiar with , it seems. In a country where it is dirt easy to get a gun, you decide to try a jeep instead. And then you surrender. After killing no one.
I try to be afraid of the muslim terrorist, I really do , but this ... is just plain silly.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Blog comments net Kingston woman an eviction notice
Article
A landlord is threatening to evict a Kingston woman from her apartment for criticizing him on her blog, raising questions about how libel laws apply to the internet.
Hmmm..... guess I better not put down my landlord either in this blog. I already knew not to put down my work... thats why I don't use my real name here ...
Two weeks ago, Sarah Dawe received a notice from Homestead Land Holdings Ltd., the company that owns the apartment building, accusing her of libel and asking her to vacate the building because of her online comments.
A landlord is threatening to evict a Kingston woman from her apartment for criticizing him on her blog, raising questions about how libel laws apply to the internet.
Hmmm..... guess I better not put down my landlord either in this blog. I already knew not to put down my work... thats why I don't use my real name here ...
Two weeks ago, Sarah Dawe received a notice from Homestead Land Holdings Ltd., the company that owns the apartment building, accusing her of libel and asking her to vacate the building because of her online comments.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Mohammed cartoons inflame U.S. campus
Article
Now whats the problem here ? Just because some guy actually showed a cartoon of the prophet of their religion they're freaking out. Calling it indecent etc.
Thats not fair. They should put up with our morality. I mean it's not like we showed him naked or anything.
I mean they can draw cartoons of Jesus Christ can't they ? As long as they're tasteful. As long as we don't think it's indecent. As long as he's not , say ... surrounded by jews jumping up and down shouting "kill him ! kill him ! " (which actually ahppened, by the way) , that would be anti-sematic and we'd have to do something about that ....
Ok....
Maybe it is fair. We all have our sensibilities when it comes to religious topics , and maybe we all need to cut each other some slack on the matter. We all have our sore points that shouldn't be pushed, and we should respect that.
Just an opinion , just an opinion.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Alberta's 'Third Way' could mean health-care showdown with Ottawa
Article
Alberta has outlined its 10-point plan to reshape medicare and in the process has unleashed what could become a major challenge to the Canada Health Act.
Who cares ?
Why ? Because in all of ontario there are only allowed 250 new doctors per year.
Out of thousands and thousands of applicants. (edit: one presumes there is a similar limit in Alberta , though I don't know what the limit is)
Doctors already have the ability to opt out of the public system completely in Alberta, but the government says that isn't happening, so it wants to introduce a hybrid system allowing physicians to offer private delivery of health care, if they submit a business plan and can prove that the public system won't be harmed.
Notice how the option of allowing more than 250 doc's a year to be trained never seems to come up ? Is never mentioned ?
They want to draw on an already limited pool of doctors when they can easily double or triple the size of that pool with no loss in quality. Do you know how many thousands and thousands of people would love to become doctors ? And skimming the top 1000 instead of the top 250 is just a drop in the bucket in that number.
But this never comes up for some reason.
Who the heck is making money off of this , I wonder ?
Alberta has outlined its 10-point plan to reshape medicare and in the process has unleashed what could become a major challenge to the Canada Health Act.
Who cares ?
Why ? Because in all of ontario there are only allowed 250 new doctors per year.
Out of thousands and thousands of applicants. (edit: one presumes there is a similar limit in Alberta , though I don't know what the limit is)
Doctors already have the ability to opt out of the public system completely in Alberta, but the government says that isn't happening, so it wants to introduce a hybrid system allowing physicians to offer private delivery of health care, if they submit a business plan and can prove that the public system won't be harmed.
Notice how the option of allowing more than 250 doc's a year to be trained never seems to come up ? Is never mentioned ?
They want to draw on an already limited pool of doctors when they can easily double or triple the size of that pool with no loss in quality. Do you know how many thousands and thousands of people would love to become doctors ? And skimming the top 1000 instead of the top 250 is just a drop in the bucket in that number.
But this never comes up for some reason.
Who the heck is making money off of this , I wonder ?
Ontario could claw back child-care benefit
Article
Some of Ontario's poorest families might never see the monthly child-care allowance proposed by the federal government.
The provincial government is expected to deduct the annual $1,200 child-care benefit for every child under age six directly from social assistance or disability support cheques.
.
.
.
The $100 monthly allowance is intended to replace the current national child-care funding deal with provinces, but Wilkey and other advocates for low-income families worry the province will claw back the benefits.
The Ontario government already deducts the National Child Benefit Supplement from social assistance and disability cheques, despite a campaign promise to stop the clawback.
The truth is ....
The provincial government wants the money , and has no intention of giving it to the private citizens.
If the federal government doesn't give it to the provincial government , but instead opts to give it directly to the people , the provincial government will "claw back" the money and take it anyways... thus insuring the people get nothing.
The current premier of ontario is Dalton McGuinty. He is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.
His web site is : http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/english/
His email address is Dalton.McGuinty@premier.gov.on.ca.
He is a provincial class RAT , obviously.
Some of Ontario's poorest families might never see the monthly child-care allowance proposed by the federal government.
The provincial government is expected to deduct the annual $1,200 child-care benefit for every child under age six directly from social assistance or disability support cheques.
.
.
.
The $100 monthly allowance is intended to replace the current national child-care funding deal with provinces, but Wilkey and other advocates for low-income families worry the province will claw back the benefits.
The Ontario government already deducts the National Child Benefit Supplement from social assistance and disability cheques, despite a campaign promise to stop the clawback.
The truth is ....
The provincial government wants the money , and has no intention of giving it to the private citizens.
If the federal government doesn't give it to the provincial government , but instead opts to give it directly to the people , the provincial government will "claw back" the money and take it anyways... thus insuring the people get nothing.
The current premier of ontario is Dalton McGuinty. He is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.
His web site is : http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/english/
His email address is Dalton.McGuinty@premier.gov.on.ca.
He is a provincial class RAT , obviously.
Change of Email
My friend a techy has his email server running , and my old email (whatshisname@rogers.com) got toasted by rogers.
On his server it's Ottawaboy@skokos.com , and that gets redirected to whatever my current email is, so if my ISP toasts it again I won't lose any email.
Sorry for the bother...
On his server it's Ottawaboy@skokos.com , and that gets redirected to whatever my current email is, so if my ISP toasts it again I won't lose any email.
Sorry for the bother...
America Online vows to institute fee-based service despite protests
Article
Political group MoveOn.org Civic Action, the AFL-CIO labour union and other organizations have criticized the service, which will charge senders a fee to route their messages directly to AOL users' mailboxes without first passing through AOL junk mail filters.
Lemme get this straight.
You'r going to let spammers pay you to bypass your spam filters and dump their garbage into MY mailbox (assuming I actually had an aol account, which I don't)
AOL, a unit of Time Warner Inc., contends the system will help it reduce spam because only legitimate senders of mass e-mail are likely to pony up the fee - ranging from 1/4 cent to one cent per message. But critics say the system will end up blocking many e-mails from groups that can't afford the fee.
But no one is saying "But I set the spam filter not to receive this junk and it's recieving it anyways !" etc etc etc ... in other words, the heck with you you weak powerless user we do as we please and if you don't like it go elsewhere.
I already did.
Political group MoveOn.org Civic Action, the AFL-CIO labour union and other organizations have criticized the service, which will charge senders a fee to route their messages directly to AOL users' mailboxes without first passing through AOL junk mail filters.
Lemme get this straight.
You'r going to let spammers pay you to bypass your spam filters and dump their garbage into MY mailbox (assuming I actually had an aol account, which I don't)
AOL, a unit of Time Warner Inc., contends the system will help it reduce spam because only legitimate senders of mass e-mail are likely to pony up the fee - ranging from 1/4 cent to one cent per message. But critics say the system will end up blocking many e-mails from groups that can't afford the fee.
But no one is saying "But I set the spam filter not to receive this junk and it's recieving it anyways !" etc etc etc ... in other words, the heck with you you weak powerless user we do as we please and if you don't like it go elsewhere.
I already did.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Feb 2 - 16 Hospital Visit
Jan 31
Havn't been eating for a few days, weak, but I had a doctors appointment with my doctor for today , so rather than go and spend 6+ hrs in emergancy to find out it's nothing I waited for the appointment and , feeling like crap , went to the doctor.
After a full out examination lasting a total of 30 seconds he proclaimed "We're going to admit you." And sent me down to emergancy. Well... not quite that fast. There was a perc bag hanging on my belly , slowly draining puss from an old abcess they'd put in long ago. The hose stuck in my belly had , after 8 or so months worked it's way to the surface and was now sticking out. He removed it and you know, I never realized how sharp the end of that hose was ? They really cut it so it was nice and pointy , probably so it could go in easy in the first place. No wonder I had so much trouble bending over every day ! I was stabbing myself with every movement !
Anyways , it was out, and I was off to emergancy to get admitted.
Not quite.
He admitted me for shortness of breath , thinking it was the pulmonary embolism I had before. Wanted a cat scan for it. Some doctor in emergancy noticed I was on Coumadin , to prevent a reoccurence, did an INR test and some other blood test to detect blood clotting and came to the conclusion that I couldn't possibly have an embolism. (To his credit he was right, My doctor was actually using that as an excuse to bypass the long line ups) . He would have written me a perscription , but since I was admitted by my doctor , my doctor had to write it.
they gave me a note to tell my doctor to write such and such a perscription, patted me on the head , and sent me home WITHOUT DOING A DAMB THING for me !
Next day phone my doctor. Oh , can't write a perscription without examining me. Earliest appointment was the day after.
Day after... (feb 2) go to him, and get the bums rush right back to emergancy. This time he took more time with me , kicked over a few tin cans or whatever it is they do when they go talk with other doctors, and this time around I got admitted. Oh , and the perscription ? My doctor tossed the note out , stating it wouldn't help me a bit.
Still...three days and no treatment ! sheesh !
Turns out my Crohns Disease had caused a blockage in my intestines somewhere , food wasn't moving , and of course I was slowly starving to death despite the fact that my belly was so full I couldn't put more food into it.
For a while they thought they might have to operate, but the matter eventually cleared up on it's own. Two weeks of hospital time felt like I was in jail though. You can only lie in bed staring at the ceiling for so long. Of course there was relief from the bordom. Like the time I snuck down to the cafeteria to eat a hamberger or two after they said I was allowed to eat again.
Spent two days throwing up after that. They were pissed, since they were about to release me and suddenly I was up chucking this black gunk from the bottom of my suddenly empty belly every two hours. And I was none too quiet about it either, you could hear me across half the floor when I got going.
They finally stuck a tube down my nose and into my belly and attached it to a vacuum pump , and I stopped ralphing up the gunk after that , ,though the container filled up pretty quick with black gunk. That was pretty desgusting. Anyone would throw up with that stuff in their belly. Of course, I probably should mention that when they stuck the tube in me ? It also was gross going down. They're not actually cutting anything , so it's not "pain" that you feel. But you're body definately doesn't like it, and I more or less freaked out going "ahhhh ahhhh ahhh !" waving my hands around and everything when they did it. 24hrs later I barely noticed the tube was there.
but that was nothing next to the unusual torture they call a "cathader" (sp?). What is a cathader you might ask ? (and I did ask , to the male nurse I had that day).
blah blah lots of medical terms blah blah measure out put of your bladder blah blah ... tube of some kind..blah blah...
Hmmm... tube , bladder. Now how would you get a tube into my bladder without a major operation ?
I looked at the male nurse. "You're going to stick a tube up my dick ?"
Yup. Thats what he was talking about.
A GUY STUCK A TUBE UP MY DICK !!!!
This was just about the ultimate indignity. Hurt like hell too.
The ultimate indignity came the next day when the cathader stopped working and I suddenly had this urge to go for a piss. Well, I got a tube up my dick , right ? I don't actually have to get up , I can just cut loose and it will go into the bag , right ?
Suddenly there was a fountain between my legs, and I quickly stopped that and called for the (male ) nurse. "Youre cathader is broken. " I informed him angrilly. Angrilly, because they hadn't put it in because something was broken, they'd put it in so they could '" more accurately measure" my output.
When it came it out it was quick , but painful. I only screamed once.
Lemme see. By my count , Guys have stuck hoses up my rear, up my dick , and up my nose in this past year. I'm just not a virgin anywhere anymore.
Havn't been eating for a few days, weak, but I had a doctors appointment with my doctor for today , so rather than go and spend 6+ hrs in emergancy to find out it's nothing I waited for the appointment and , feeling like crap , went to the doctor.
After a full out examination lasting a total of 30 seconds he proclaimed "We're going to admit you." And sent me down to emergancy. Well... not quite that fast. There was a perc bag hanging on my belly , slowly draining puss from an old abcess they'd put in long ago. The hose stuck in my belly had , after 8 or so months worked it's way to the surface and was now sticking out. He removed it and you know, I never realized how sharp the end of that hose was ? They really cut it so it was nice and pointy , probably so it could go in easy in the first place. No wonder I had so much trouble bending over every day ! I was stabbing myself with every movement !
Anyways , it was out, and I was off to emergancy to get admitted.
Not quite.
He admitted me for shortness of breath , thinking it was the pulmonary embolism I had before. Wanted a cat scan for it. Some doctor in emergancy noticed I was on Coumadin , to prevent a reoccurence, did an INR test and some other blood test to detect blood clotting and came to the conclusion that I couldn't possibly have an embolism. (To his credit he was right, My doctor was actually using that as an excuse to bypass the long line ups) . He would have written me a perscription , but since I was admitted by my doctor , my doctor had to write it.
they gave me a note to tell my doctor to write such and such a perscription, patted me on the head , and sent me home WITHOUT DOING A DAMB THING for me !
Next day phone my doctor. Oh , can't write a perscription without examining me. Earliest appointment was the day after.
Day after... (feb 2) go to him, and get the bums rush right back to emergancy. This time he took more time with me , kicked over a few tin cans or whatever it is they do when they go talk with other doctors, and this time around I got admitted. Oh , and the perscription ? My doctor tossed the note out , stating it wouldn't help me a bit.
Still...three days and no treatment ! sheesh !
Turns out my Crohns Disease had caused a blockage in my intestines somewhere , food wasn't moving , and of course I was slowly starving to death despite the fact that my belly was so full I couldn't put more food into it.
For a while they thought they might have to operate, but the matter eventually cleared up on it's own. Two weeks of hospital time felt like I was in jail though. You can only lie in bed staring at the ceiling for so long. Of course there was relief from the bordom. Like the time I snuck down to the cafeteria to eat a hamberger or two after they said I was allowed to eat again.
Spent two days throwing up after that. They were pissed, since they were about to release me and suddenly I was up chucking this black gunk from the bottom of my suddenly empty belly every two hours. And I was none too quiet about it either, you could hear me across half the floor when I got going.
They finally stuck a tube down my nose and into my belly and attached it to a vacuum pump , and I stopped ralphing up the gunk after that , ,though the container filled up pretty quick with black gunk. That was pretty desgusting. Anyone would throw up with that stuff in their belly. Of course, I probably should mention that when they stuck the tube in me ? It also was gross going down. They're not actually cutting anything , so it's not "pain" that you feel. But you're body definately doesn't like it, and I more or less freaked out going "ahhhh ahhhh ahhh !" waving my hands around and everything when they did it. 24hrs later I barely noticed the tube was there.
but that was nothing next to the unusual torture they call a "cathader" (sp?). What is a cathader you might ask ? (and I did ask , to the male nurse I had that day).
blah blah lots of medical terms blah blah measure out put of your bladder blah blah ... tube of some kind..blah blah...
Hmmm... tube , bladder. Now how would you get a tube into my bladder without a major operation ?
I looked at the male nurse. "You're going to stick a tube up my dick ?"
Yup. Thats what he was talking about.
A GUY STUCK A TUBE UP MY DICK !!!!
This was just about the ultimate indignity. Hurt like hell too.
The ultimate indignity came the next day when the cathader stopped working and I suddenly had this urge to go for a piss. Well, I got a tube up my dick , right ? I don't actually have to get up , I can just cut loose and it will go into the bag , right ?
Suddenly there was a fountain between my legs, and I quickly stopped that and called for the (male ) nurse. "Youre cathader is broken. " I informed him angrilly. Angrilly, because they hadn't put it in because something was broken, they'd put it in so they could '" more accurately measure" my output.
When it came it out it was quick , but painful. I only screamed once.
Lemme see. By my count , Guys have stuck hoses up my rear, up my dick , and up my nose in this past year. I'm just not a virgin anywhere anymore.
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